The Muggle with White Hair
by FireyFlames
Summary: On upon entering Hogwarts for an Espada chase, Hitsugaya is miffed. Wands, bratty children, and a whole new atmosphere really doesn't make life easier. BleachHP crossover
1. WALLS

**The Muggle with White Hair**

**NOTE**: _I am no way copying any other BLEACHHP fics out there. Have fun reading, eating, flaming, criticizing!_

Chapter 1: WALLS

Stare.

Stare.

Sta-"Are you lost child?" Hitsugaya Toushirou twitched. He lifted his pale emerald eyes to the foolish mortal who dared to address him by such an inferior name and surely deserved to toast their heels in hell.

Psychological problems, the glasses-wearing Quincy would say.

Shut up, Hitsugaya would reply.

While having this imaginary battle of words with someone who only existed in his mind, the granny who started all this inner turmoil quickly left. Maybe she thought he was mute.

After he banished his foe from the pits of his mind, Hitsugaya resumed staring. He probably looked like some freak since he was staring at a red brick wall.

A thick red brick wall.

An aggravating thick red brick wall.

An aggravating thick red brick wall that supposedly held the entrance to a non-existent train platform.

He started pacing back and forth, ignoring the glances passerbys gave him. This just wasn't his day. Not to mention that he didn't even receive a brief. Now he was having problems with some inanimate object. How he wished that he was back in his office instead of being in some foreign country while Matsumoto was most definitely trashing the place. Speaking of Matsumoto, he hoped half-heartedly if she was doing the large stack of paperwork he had left behind. By the time he came back his whole desk would've been swallowed by documents.

Better start thinking of ways to reel in and discipline his fuku-taichou.

Hitsugaya glanced at his ticket for the train 9 and three quarters. Feeling frustrated he sat on his large leather trunk. The weight caused it to promptly burst open, scattering its contents and its owner on the floor. Red-faced, Hitsugaya grabbed his most embarrassing undergarments first before coming face to face with a huge stuffed animal. It looked like a cross between Santa Claus and a platypus.

It held a sign:

**I'LL MISS YOU SHIROU-CHAN!!! 3 3 3 3!!!**

-Jyuushirou Ukitake, Captain of the 13th division!

For the hundredth and fifty third time in three hours, Hitsugaya felt his vein pulse ominously. Curse that stupid, ignorant, shame to his gender, old, sick, bas!! The next time he saw that man he will rip off his fingernails! He grabbed the doll and it immediatly burst into song.

Correction, he will just run that idiot through.

Finally he shoved everything back into his trunk, clasping it _securely_. The next chance he would get will be to procure some masking tape and hot glue.

Hitsugaya sat next (rather than on this time) to his luggage. His gigai body was becoming uncomfortable. Not to mention something pointy was puncturing his buttock. Investigation revealed a long twelve inched piece of wood. It was supposed to be a weapon and an object to help him blend in. How on Soul Society was this fragile stick going to protect him from the Espada? Suddenly Hitsugaya had a mental vision of jabbing the wood in Aizen's tender regions. He chuckled darkly.

His vengeful thoughts were interruppted by a skinny black haired boy who knocked into his trunk, skidding sideways. The boy adjusted his glasses and quickly murmured an apoloygy before being dragged away by a plump red-haired woman. Hitsugaya followed the trio (they were joined by an elderly grandma) with his eyes, half-lidded with disinterest.They were heading for the wall that had so distracted Hitsugaya. Before he could shout a warning (they were heading straight for it!) the strange family vanished into the dark bricks.

And thus, Hitsugaya began his staring again.

A porter with a limp shoved past him, threw a suspicious look, and entered the wall with a cartload of trunks.

_So that was how you entered the stupid platform!_ Hitsugaya grabbed his heavy trunk and stood uncertainly in front of the wall. A picture of a mutilated body replaced the Aizen one. On second thought...

This time a tall, similarly red-haired boy, a portly (also red-headed) man, and a curly brunette stepped in as Hitsugaya hastily moved out of the way. Quickly, before he calculated the sum of payment to the Bureau of Technology for a crushed gigai, he walked in after them.

Realizing that his gigai wasn't smashed into bits, Hitsugaya adjusted to his surroundings. There were a lot of...young people whom were all headed for the scarlet train.

Platform 9 and 3/4 said the sign.

The first leg of his mission. Done.

-----

_Yes I'm aware that I haven't finished my other stories, except for Through Those Bright Threads. I'm also aware of my furious and angry fans that are all congregated outside of my house hoping to be the first ones to pin me down with a UVI automatic shotgun. THe pressure is unbelievable. Thankfully, I've planned ahead. I've already written three chapters (including this one). Whatever happens next is entirely dependent on the food I'm eating and the homework I'm receiving. Cheers people, I still love you Dragon Knight fans. _


	2. The Butchering of Japanese

**The Muggle with White Hair**

**NOTE**: _I am no way copying any other BLEACHHP fics out there. Have fun reading, eating, flaming, criticizing!_

Chapter 2: The Butchering of Japanese

Relieved, Hitsugaya shoved past a boy with dreadlocks and stepped onto the complicated piece of machinery. He was jostled to and fro six times before finally shoving a compartment door open.

Unfortunately, it was already occupied. The strange dirty-blonde haired girl looked up from her reverse-sided newspaper. She had a sort of dreamy stare that nervously reminded Hitsugaya of Kira at a cocktail party. The rest of her gave off an Orihime-ish aura purely due to the fact that she had her own "stick" inserted behind her ear and was wearing a necklace of bottlecaps.

"Can I sit here?" He asked. Not nervously, for Soul Society's sake, how could this girl make him nervous?

"Can you?" She fixed her large abnormal eyes onto him. For once in his afterlife Hitsugaya was thrown off by the question. How was he supposed to answer that?

He paused, unmoving from the threshold. "Um." He replied intelligently. The girl stared patiently back.

Was it some weird English thing? Did Yamamoto-oji-san not tell him about a specific quirk of the language? It must've been something Matsumoto left out for him! He should've known better than to trust his lieutanent to give him lingual lessons particurlarly when she was drunk.

Why couldn't he answer?_ Say something! SAY SOMETHING!!!_

"Uh." Hitsugaya worked his tongue-tied mouth which felt like dried cotton twisted in some sort of knot. He wanted to hit himself. Repeatedly. He was acting like Abarai. And Kurosaki. Actually, in more accurate words, he was acting like some dumb mutation of _both_ Abarai and Kurosaki. (With a little of Madarame mixed in too.)

"May I." The girl said. Hitsugaya was shaken from his thoughts. "Huh?" Was he only capable of saying one-syllable words to this girl? "It's may I sit here." Her huge eyes never once leaving his face.

To heck with weird English traditions.

"May I sit here?" Hitsugaya asked, feeling quite dumb and...mortal-ish. She nodded and observed him silently as he stowed his trunk with difficulty. Her eyes were still permanently glued to his face when he finally sat down.

"White hair." She stated. Again the captain of the 10th division was surprised. "What?" Why did this girl make him feel so...simple? "You have white hair," She went on, oblivious of the fact that she was making him uncomfortable.

"Yes I do." Hitsugaya congratulated himself on saying something over two syllables. "Luna Lovegood." She murmured. It was probably _her_ name. "Hitsugaya Toushirou." He muttered.

Before she decided to make another weird comment, the compartment door opened again. Grateful for having someone interfere with their discussion, Hitsugaya looked up to see a red-haired (was red hair a common color or what?) girl come in with a trunk. Two boys followed her rather reluctantly. Hitsugaya recognized one of them to have knocked into his trunk earlier. His observant eyes noticed the crooked glasses and the curious hair-thin scar on the boy's forehead. Like a zigzag. Or a bolt of lightning.

"Hello Luna. Is it okay if we take these seats?" The girl asked smilingly. Luna nodded, her stick wobbling dangerously. _She didn't say anything weird to them_, Hitsugaya noticed resentfully.

Thanks was given and the newcomers stowed their trunks away. The boy wearing glasses and the other strange moon-faced boy sat next to the child prodigy. It was obvious that they didn't want to be near Luna (she was probably strange in her own world too). However the other _red_ girl had no qualms sitting next to dotty Luna.

"Had a good summer Luna?" the girl asked cheerfully. She then glanced at Hitsugaya with a rather confused look. "Who're you? Never saw you before." Hitsugaya felt uncomfortable once again with the stares thrown at him. "Hitsugaya Toushirou." He said. The moon-faced boy gave a look of confusion. "Heet-soo-_gay_-a?" He asked with terrible articulation that set off the fury in the white-haired captain.

The vein was pulsing. "Hitsugaya." He repeated. "Hit-soo-gu-ya?" This time two veins stuck out of his forehead prominently. "You're a foreigner." Luna rhetorically said. Hitsugaya dipped his head. "I'm an exchange student from Japan." He quickly fabricated. Luna, thankfully, turned her enormous eyes on the boy next to him. "And you're Harry Potter."

_Harry what? What was with all these names?_ "I know I am." Harry whatever said. The moon-faced boy laughed a little. At once Luna pinned him down with one of her stares. "And I don't know who you are." In return the boy blanched and looked away nervously. "I'm nobody."

He certainly looked like nobody. If Hitsugaya had to describe a nobody, he would steal the portrait of this boy. "No you're not," The other girl snapped. "Neville Longbottom-Luna Lovegood. Luna's is in my year, but in Ravenclaw." Hitsugaya had a "What-the-ell" look on his face on upon hearing the word "Ravenclaw".

"I'm Ginny Weasly by the way."

Hitsugaya knew that he would forget all these names once they arrived. What was the school even called again? He sifted through his memories.

_FLASHBACK_

Yamamoto's imposing figure blocked out the rising, lazy sun. Hitsugaya wondered wistfully if he would ever be able to grow that tall. Or be that wide.

"Hitsugaya-taichou." He rumbled, (all old men rumbled). "The Bureau of Technology has found an Espada trace at a wizarding school, _Hogwarts_, in some European country that I fail to recall and would like you to be dispatched immediatly for investigation purposes."

Yamamoto took a deep breath, his hands remaining stationary on his staff. "I would like you to blend in with the students at that school. The school itself is an academy for magic. Thus we are giving you the proper necessities: this _wand_, some _schoolbooks_, and a letter to give to the headmaster. You will leave at once." Hitsugaya was hustled out of the room in a daze.

"What just happened?"

_END FLASHBACK_

Oh yes, Hogwarts. He wondered how one would spell that name in kanji. First one would probably use the character-

A black slime suddenly struck him in the face, turning his snow-white hair into a dirty-offal color. Hitsugaya froze, his whole body stiffening. The temperature of the compartment turned several degrees lower. Wiping the slime slowly from his face, he turned his emerald eyes to the stuttering boy named Bigbottom. He was clutching some ugly looking cactus plant and was embarrassed beyond relief.

"What happened." It was not a question, it was a curt, icy, statement usually used to intimidate new fresh recruits. "S-sorry. I haven't tried that before...didn't realize that it would be...don't worry though, Stinksap's not poisonous." He was shrinking away from Hitsugaya's furious stare. Harry spat some of the liquid on the floor, some of it landing on Hitsugaya's pants.

It became colder. Rotating his emerald orbs, Hitsugaya glared at Harry. The Stinksap coated door suddenly opened. "Oh..hello, Harry." A pretty, black-haired girl said nervously. "Um...bad time?"

HItsugaya in turn targeted her with his "cold stare" while Harry stuttered a greeting back. The girl blushed hard, mumbled something, threw a terrified look at Hitsugaya's murderous face, and closed the door. Harry groaned in disappointment.

"Never mind. Look, we can get rid of all this easily. _Scourgify!_" The Stinksap vanished, leaving Hitsugaya's hair white once more. Surprised, he turned a look at Ginny who was pocketing her stick. _Did that stick thing do that? So it wasn't useless after all_. He took out his own stick and glanced at it.

What was the word? Scour-"You didn't have to have such a beastly look on your face." Annoyed on being interuppted, Hitsugaya looked at Luna's eyes. Her eyes. Darnit. Didn't that girl blink?

"What?" Irritation seeping into his tone, a danger signal to all whom confronted him. "You scared away Cho Chang with your face." She said matter-of-factly. Harry threw an angry look at him, Neville looked terrified, and Ginny raised an eyebrow.

Oh please. "Whatever." He muttered, staring out the window. "Not his fault, he was bothered by the Stinksap." Ginny said. Foolish mortal talk, Hitsugaya thought, his mind already lapsing away. After a few minutes, a trolley came with food. Seeing as he didn't have any money, Hitsugaya ignored it. Of course he did yell and throw that chocolate frog at Harry's face by accident and stepped on Neville's cauldron cake, but otherwise he didn't engage in the conversations.

His mind drifted to his peaceful office back in the 10th division quarters. The scent of pine and green tea, his desk empty of paperwork, his couch not occupied by a snoring lush...Hitsugaya was quite into it until a cat with a squashed face landed in his lap. Startled, he looked down at the cat. It purred. He twitched.

"I'm starving." said a (surprise!) red-haired tall boy who squished in between him and Harry. He bit off the head of a chocolate frog with ferocity that made Hitsugaya a little queasy in the stomach. "Who's the bloke?" the boy asked, staring at him with his mouth wide open (Hitsugaya winced again). "Ron! You're so rude." A familiar bushy brunette scowled. "His name is Hetsugellia," Harry said. Ron snorted.

The temperature dropped a few more notches. "Something funny?" Hitsugaya asked quietly. "And it's _Hitsugaya Toushirou_." Ron's eyes grew round like those giant candies Yachiru was obsessed with.

"I'm Hermione Granger and he's Ron Weasley." The brunette added in hastily before the compartment turned into post-winter. _Weasley?_ Hitsugaya flicked his eyes to Ron and Ginny noting the similiarities. That explained the flaming red hair. "I guess you're from abroad. Which wizarding school?" Hermione asked, settling next to Ginny. Hitsugaya paused.

"Shinigami Academy." Hitsugaya finally improvised. Puzzled, Hermione gave him a scrutinizing look. "Shee-nee-gah-mee? I never heard of it." Ron chortled. "Something Hermione doesn' t know! Fancy that!" Hermione threw a withering look at him and turned to Harry. "Well, there are two fifth-year prefects from each House." She said, quickly turning the main topic of discuss safely away from Hitsugaya.

"And guess who's the Slytherin prefect?" Ron closed his eyes and squashed Hitsugaya once again. "Malfoy." Harry said, his face disgruntled. "Course." Ron responded. "And that complete cow Pansy Parkinson. How she got to be a prefect when she's thicker than a concussed troll..."

As always, Hitsugaya looked confused. Trolls? And who were Panny and Marfoy? He really needed to research. Quickly, he listened attentively to the next few names that were tossed around. Luna came into the conversation with something about Yule Ball and dancing. He managed to conclude that this, _Marfoy_, was talked of condescendingly along with a crustacean (Crab?) and Goyle.

Ron mimicked Goyle, grunting about baboons. Everyone, but Hitsugaya (who had lost track a few minutes ago), laughed. Luna shrieked with laughter, causing the cat to dig its claws into Hitsugaya's thighs.

_Ow._

"That was _funny_!" She yelled. _No it wasn't_, Hitsugaya thought vehemently while removing each sharp prong from his flesh. Everyone laughed again at Luna 's prolonged hysterical giggles. Except Hitsugaya obviously.

"Are you taking the mickey?" Ron asked, whatever a mickey was supposed to be. "Baboon's backside!" Luna choked back. Bemused, Hitsugaya watched until Harry lurched in his seat. The boy had acquired a newspaper and had flipped to a page with some mutated human standing on human bones.

**SIRIUS-BLACK AS HE'S PAINTED? NOTORIOUS MASS MURDERER OR INNOCENT SINGING SENSATION?**

Okay, that explained it. Hitsugaya knew _nothing_ of this wizarding environment. All he had to do was wait until the Espada came and impaled him with a zanpaktou. _Perfect_, he thought sarcastically (he was doing a lot of that these days.) Angrily, Hitsugaya dug into the pockets of his jeans and flipped open his cellphone inconspicuously, dialing the number to the Bureau.

While dialing, Luna had snatched the newspaper back while coldly looking at an embarrassed Hermione. Then the door opened. Again. _Great._ Hitsugaya mentally massaged his temple. He placed the cellphone to his ear while three boys moved into the small room. Two giants with the expressions of dumb Hollows flanked a smirking boy with pale blond hair.

"What?" Harry asked in a not-pleased-to-see-you tone. "Manners, Potter, or I'll have to give you a detention. You see-blahblahblah"

Hitsugaya was busy listening to the repetetive ring to pay attention to some rat-faced boy.

"Tell me, how does it feel being second-best to Weasly, Potter?" The rat went on.

"Hello?" Asked a nasally voice, echoing irritatingly in Hitsugaya's eardrum and adding to his headache.

"Finally." Hitsugaya huffed. "Get me to Kurotsuchi-taichou." Scuffling noises and a crisper yet still abnormally high voice (evidence of someone who had probably never survived through puberty) answered. "Ah Hitsugaya-taichou, whatever can I do for you?"

"You know exactly what you can do for me you two-faced little bas-t-a-r-d!" HItsugaya yelled, too frustrated to see the startled glances everyone threw at him. "Who's the white-haired freak show?" Mr.Rat asked, while the giants gaped (their brains usually catch up after five minutes).

Hitsugaya ignored them. "I need more information," He barked into the cellphone. Mayuri gave a long drawn-out yawn. "Did you see the headmaster yet?" He asked insolently. "Call back once you have."

Empty beeping silence. Irritation welled up. "I'm talking to you, grandfather." Ratty the Angry snarled. Hitsugaya slammed the phone shut with a little more force than necessary. "And I'm busy, rat boy." Hitsugaya wanted to crush the silver machine in half. Or preferably Mayuri's neck. "That little...kisama!" He mumbled. "What did you call me?" R-A-T demanded, his face turning an ugly shade of heliotrope.

Couldn't they get off his back? "Not repeating myself. Now shut up so I can think." Hitsugaya snapped. Ron chuckled, estatic on seeing the blonde made fun of. (What was his name?)'s eyes narrowed dangerously. "Watch yourself, _grandfather_, that goes for you too Weasel and Potty. I'll be _dogging_ your footsteps if you so much step out of line." Giving a rather dramatic laugh, he exited the room.

Harry and Hermione turned ashen and threw sneaking glances at each other while Ron stared with interest at Hitsugaya's silver cellphone. "What's that you got there?" He asked. Hitsugaya gave a rather none-of-your-business look at Ron who backed off at once. He stewed in his own thoughts. No one wanted to bother him, seeing as his face looked like a cold glacier.

The train stopped. Hitsugaya jerked up and grabbed his trunk. Noticing that the rest did not touch their luggage, Hitsugaya immediatly backed away. Nevermind that he was still dressed in human clothes and stuck out like a sore thumb amid the robes of the students, Hitsugaya could care less. He followed everyone outside into the pouring-

Rain.

Oh wonderful. Squinting ferociously in the outpour, Hitsugaya's attention was at once wrested away. Skeletal black horses stood tethered to some carriages, their wings wriggling, and their eyes pupilless and white. _Those are...uma no shinigami!_ He was shocked at seeing one of the most sacred creatures in Soul Society, especially here in this European wizarding school. Something started niggling in the back of his mind, he felt bothered to see those rare creatures standing so obediently like...mindless souls.

"What are those things, d'you reckon?" Harry asked. Hitsugaya whirled around to see Harry gesturing at the uma no shinigami with Ron. _How could...that boy see them?_

Ron only pulled the typical what-are-you-talking-about expression. "What things?" Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes unnoticed, at Harry. He could detect no spiritual energy, yet that boy could see them.

"Can't you see what's pulling the carriages?"

"Are you feeling all right, Harry?"

"I...yeah..." Harry looked very confused.

"You can see them too?" Hitsugaya asked, rather accusingly at Harry. The boy quickly turned around to meet suspicious emeralds. "Um...yeah..What I'm not supposed to see them?" Harry asked defensively.

Identical green orbs bored into each other.

"Yes." Hitsugaya turned around and left the bewildered Harry in the crowd.

----

_Just made up "uma no shinigami". hehehhe. Have fun analyzing and cutting this chapter apart._


	3. Dumbledoresan

**The Muggle with White Hair**

**NOTE**: _I am no way copying any other BLEACHHP fics out there. Have fun reading, eating, flaming, criticizing! Also, this story takes place during the Order of the Phoenix arc._

_I am aware that my writing was EXTREMELY MEDIOCRE in chapter two, hopefully there is some improvement? Crossing my fingers but not really happy, FireyFlames._

Chapter 3: Dumbledore-San

"Hitsugaya Toushirou?" Asked an overly cheerful voice. Hitsugaya tilted his head back to meet the grinning face of a woman with shockingly..of all colors, pink hair. Miffed on having to actually crane his head back, he gave a noncommittal grunt. "This way." She grabbed Hitsugaya's arm and towed him to the opposite direction from the chattering, laughing students. "Since we're not allowed to apparate on school grounds, Dumbledore sent us a portkey." She said conversationally, all the while grinning at the annoyed Hitsugaya.

"Dumb..what?" He asked, stumbling alongside the woman. She suddenly stopped and looked at Hitsugaya surprised. "Don't tell me you don't know Dumbledore!" She said in shocked, reproving tones. "I don't know him." He told her flatly.

She curled her lip up thoughtfully and set off again, her hold on Hitsugaya's arm nonrelenting. "Well you'll see him soon, I reckon." The pair stopped, the latter almost slipping on the wet grass. "Come to think of it, I haven't gotten your name." She looked at him expectedly. Hitsugaya hesitated, bracing himself for more butchering. "It's Hitsugaya Toushirou." The woman gave a sudden laugh that made Hitsugaya jump. "Oh, I'm not poking fun or anything," She said impetously at Hitsugaya's murderous expression. "It's just that your name is a mouthful like mine! Nymphadora Tonks. Call me Tonks and I'll call you Hitsu."

Hitsugaya opened his mouth in objection then closed it. He might as well go along with the flow, he might get rid of her sooner. Tonks looked around, her eyes moving quickly. "Ah there it is!" She exclaimed, pointing at a dead animal's corpse. Hitsugaya mentally recoiled, however kept a stoical expression.

"Go on, touch it."

He reared back. This...woman had just asked him to touch some contaminated badger that looked as if it had been run over by that scarlet thing he was on.

In response, Tonks chuckled. "You should touch it soon or we'll be walking all the way to Hogwarts." Hitsugaya cast a glance back from where they had walked from. All the uma no shinigami were gone, the train had also pulled out. It was empty. It was also raining. Before Hitsugaya was ready, Tonks seized his hand and placed it on the cadaver.

His revulsion was forgotten as he was tugged with sudden alarming force. Color and sound assailed his ears and eyes. Then he slammed into the ground, his face meeting wooden floor. "Always hated portkeys." Tonks said in a tone that contradicted her statement. Hitsugaya massaged the bridge of his nose and glared at her grinning countenance. Wiping his hand on his trousers, he stood up unsteadily.

Where the-"Ah, Nymphadora." A wise-looking senior stood behind a broad varnished oaken desk. A full white mustache, a broken nose, worry veins, all hinted at age. His beard rivaled Yamamoto's except for the fact that it was not constricted with purple ribbons. He had half-moon glasses in front of altruistic blue eyes.

That was the difference, Hitsugaya thought. Yamamoto gave off an air of authority, one that hinted that he wasn't to be trifled with. However, this foreigner seemed very welcoming, much like Jyuushirou. "Hallo Professor Dumbledore. I brought the kid." Tonks said happily. Hitsugaya gave a crackling glance on having been referred as a _kid_.

The man looked amused, his eyes having caught Hitsugaya's expression. "Thank you Nymphadora, you may be excused." Tonks nodded cheerfully, waved at Hitsugaya, and strode out the door. Hitsugaya quickly looked at his surroundings. Strange, silver instruments stood on brittle tables while an accumulation of portraits adorned the walls. To Hitsugaya's disbelief, the occupants seemed to be staring right back at him. Some of them were _moving_, shifting or walking out of their frames. HItsugaya shuddered at his unfamiliar surroundings.

A rustle of feathers distracted him, Hitsugaya turned to see a bird of a brilliant scarlet perched on a golden stand. The strange bird exuded a sense of dignity and wisdom, not unlike the one the old man had. Fascinated, he was about to examine before realizing where he was. "A phoenix." The old man said suddenly. He smiled and Hitsugaya came closer. "Ah yes, his name is Fawkes. And my name is Albus Dumbledore."

_So this was the man whose name Hitsugaya couldn't pronounce_. "Hitsugaya Toushirou." He murmured before reaching into his pocket. "You're the headmaster?" He asked sharply, his tongue stumbling slightly. Dumbledore chuckled and nodded. Hitsugaya closed in and placed the letter on the desk. "That letter will explain everything." Hitsugaya said before falling silent. He watched closely at Dumbledore's expression as the headmaster opened the note and read its contents.

An absence of noise. Then the headmaster put the letter down and gazed at Hitsugaya. "If you are in need of evidence then I'll give it to you." Hitsugaya said curtly, he could read the slight disbelief.

Dumbledore paused slightly. "Some proof would be appreciated." He admitted.

Obviously. Toushirou pulled out the small Soul Candy container and pressed down sharply on the bunny's head. The pill popped up and was swallowed, quickly traveling down his gullet.

A coruscation, (the people in the pictures stared) and the gigai hit the floor. Hitsugaya stood rather egotistically with his Captain robes. Dumbledore didn't blink, his eyes shifting to the moving gigai. "I am the shinigami captain of the 10th division of the Gotei 13." Hitsugaya said. "My mission has been stated in that letter." He scoured Dumbledore's face for another reaction.

The headmaster did not satisfy Hitsugaya, instead he folded his hands. "I am honored that your leader has entrusted me with keeping your secret. We will give you the proper clothing and books for your stay here at Hogwarts. I only hope that, as a temporary student, you respect the rules here."

"I will make sure that my mission doesn't entangle with any of the lives of the people here." Hitsugaya said laconically. Dumbledore bowed his head, his glasses moving a few inches down his broken nose. "I have a few demands." He started, glancing at the shinigami's face. "I have read of your...soul burial and ask that you do not perform your ritual on any of the House ghosts here. They are attached to this school and have asked special permission to remain here."

Hmmm, so there were souls in this school too. If the Soul Society approved of it..Hitsugaya nodded. "You do know that they are in danger of being eaten by Hollows."

Dumbledore smiled. "The magic of this school does not allow..Hollows..to breach these walls." _Well that was a surprise. Doubtless it could keep the arrancar out. _

Dumbledore waited, plainly not finished. "I also ask that you look after one of my students and...attend the Order of the Phoenix meetings."

Hitsugaya froze. Nothing was said about taking care of a brat. "Order of the Phoenix?" Testing the word on his tongue for good measure. "It is an organization against Voldemort and his minions. I'm not asking you to help with our cause, just to be aware of the situation here."

Hitsugaya mentally pulled a face. He could really care less, but..."Who is the student and who is...Voldemort?" He asked carefully. Dumbledore unclasped his hands. "The student is Harry Potter. He is the only wizard in this world to have received a killing curse and to survive from it. Voldemort is a extremely dangerous wizard involved in the Dark Arts, a killer and murderer."

The shinigami raised an eyebrow. "Then why would this Harry need my protection if he can already avoid death?" The headmaster adjusted his glasses. "Such miracles usually do not happen twice. Voldemort, one of the most notorious wizards, is after his life also."

_Why couldn't he employ some buff wizards or something?_ Hitsugaya wondered wearily if he could still pursue his mission and protect the kid. Did he have a choice? Hoping that he wouldn't regret his decision, Hitsugaya nodded in agreement.

"I'll protect him to the best of my abilities, however my mission comes first." Dumbledore stood up and beamed. "Excellent, then we will transfer you to Gryffindor. It is one of the four houses of Hogwarts." Dumbledore said, answering HItsugaya's questioning glance.

He didn't really care if he landed in any of them actually, Hitsugaya thought. He grabbed his gigai before it broke something (it had been inspecting the silver instruments) and shoved his body into it while Dumbledore looked on with curiousity. "Professor McGonagoll will escort you to the dormitories."

The door swung open and a stern-looking woman, full of sharp angles, with iron-gray hair twisted aggressively into a bun, stalked into the room. "I'm Professor McGonagoll, head of Gryffindor. I am also going to be your Transfiguration teacher." She said curtly while Hitsugaya looked with bewilderment on being assaulted by so many foreign words. Dumbledoor chuckled a little.

She nodded at Dumbledore, grasped the poor shinigami's shoulder, and steered him out of the room onto the staircase. With a grinding lurch it started moving. The 10th squad captain willed himself not to jump when one of the strange Baroque atrocities stuck its tongue out at him as he ascended to the floor.

"Students wake up at 6:00 every morning," McGonagoll walked briskly forward with Hitsugaya at her heels. "They eat breakfast in the Great Hall and then attend classes. Classes are usually jointed, two houses integrating at a time."

Rubbing his white hair in confusion, Hitsugaya looked up. "Houses?"

The professor made a sharp turn. "The houses are Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Gryffindor, the house you're in. The Forbidden Forest is out of bounds (Hitsugaya perked up), magic is not permitted in between classes including magical objects, and Quidditch tryouts take place next week." She drew a hand out, stopping Hitsugaya before he stepped on air. He could've sworn that there was a step there before...

He shut his mouth smartly.

Making sure to memorize the route, he was led up stairs and across other hallways before finally reaching his destination. _Or was it his destination?_ The giant obese lady in a revolting eye-smarting shade of pink dress stared down at him.

"Password?" She demanded in a bored tone. She leaned against the wooden frame of her painting. Dumbfounded, Hitsugaya quickly looked at professor McGonagoll. "_Mimbulus Mimbletonia_." She stated and the portrait swung open, barely missing him.

Growing more irritated, Hitsugaya crawled into the large circular hole; entering the room. There was a giant fireplace, flames throwing spears of heat into big squishy armchairs and worn couches. The place was decorated with the colors of scarlet and gold, the most bedecked spot on the wall was a huge notice board.

It was warm. _Annoyingly_ warm. And toasty. Never a good combination.

"Food is on that table and your trunk will be in your room. Tomorrow you will get your class schedule." Hitsugaya quickly nodded, hoping to hurry to his _hopefully_ cold room. McGonagoll gave a satisfied I'm-done-here expression and turned to leave.

She paused.

"You do know who Harry Potter is?" She inquired.

Hitsugaya turned around. "The kid with glasses?" Realizing that this wasn't an accurate description, he went on. "The black-haired boy with green eyes and that scar."

Professor McGonagoll, who was obviously waiting for Hitsugaya to say the words "scar", turned around and left the Gryffindor Common room.

Left to his own devices (for once!), Hitsugaya nibbled at his food, leaving it there, and went on to explore his room. Thankfully, he could read some English and discerned which were boy dormitoris and which were girl dormitories. After pounding up those long, _stupid_, weary, steps, he finally found his room.

It was another scarlet and gold disaster. Six beds all with crimson colored curtains (for privacy, Hitsugaya noted) were evenly spaced out with appropriate trunks at the foot of them. Deciding to take advantage of the blissful silence, he switched beds twice, changed into his pajamas (Matsumoto had packed the fluffy ones. _Again_), and snuggled into bed.

No not snuggled. _Went_ into bed. Yes, "went" was more mature-ish. He really did deserve a night's sleep after all those foreigners and stupid kids. Counting the pages of paperwork signing he had to do instead of sheep Hitsugaya's heavy eyelids closed.

----

"What are you asking me for? Just read the _Daily Prophet_ like your mother, why don't you? That'll tell you all you need to know."

"Don't you have a go at my mother!"

"I'll have a go at anyone who calls me a liar."

"Don't talk to me like that!"

Three words. Voices. Annoyances. Shut the-okay maybe not three words. The white-haired captain of the 10th division was shaken from his very peaceful, very ennui, dream by voices. Angry, harassed sounding voices. Hitsugaya didn't really care. Angry and harassed will be him if they didn't silence themselves!

"You know what? He's right, I don't want to share a dormitory with him anymore, he's a madman."

"That's out of order, Seamus."

"Out of order, am I? You believe all the rubbish he's come out with about You-Know-Who, do you, you reckon he's telling the truth?"

"Yeah, I do!" This one sounded like that red-haired boy who had squashed Hitsugaya on the train.

"Then you're mad too!"

Hitsugaya shoved his head deeper into his pillow. He quickly abandoned the plan, seeing as suffocating was not the way he wanted to end his life. A huge ripping noise suddenly accompanied a crashing noise. Then silence.

Blissful, wonderful si-

"Anyone else's parents got a problem with Harry?"

_Mine do. Even if I don't have parents. But that's beside the point_.

"My gran says that's rubbish. She says it's the _Daily Prophet_ that's going downhill, not Dumbledore. She's canceled our subscription. We believe Harry. My gran's always said You-Know-Who would come back one day. She says-"

"SHUT UP!" Hitsugaya emerged from his bed, his white hair a mess, and generally looking like a crazed psychopathic patient. His roommates jumped.

Bigbottom, Potter, Red-haired, Mystery, and Mystery 2 were gaping at him. "If I have to hear another stupid, pointless, argument coming from your mouths, I will Daiguren Hyouinmaru your _asses_. So shut the (late censor) up and let there be _quiet_. Is that too hard to comply with?" His eyes shown eerily in the dark. The creepy floating eyes, strange threats, and white hair clapped everyones traps shut.

Which was of course, the effect Hitsugaya was going for.

He fell back into his bed with a CREaKKK and cocooned himself in woolen blankets. Still petrified, the rest of the boys quickly changed into their respective nightwear and went to bed.

Not a peep for the rest of the night.

-----

_Trust Toushirou to scare kids that were, in human years, older than him. He's not too OOC? Comments especially critique is welcome. Flames will be no doubt humerously read and aggresively replied too. Make sure to block me after sending me a flame. Just a piece of advice._


	4. Clones, Owls, and Toast

**The Muggle with White Hair**

**NOTE**: _I am no way copying any other BLEACHHP fics out there. Have fun reading, eating, flaming, criticizing! Also, this story takes place during the Order of the Phoenix arc._

Chapter 4: Clones, Owls, and Toast

"What's up Harry?" Hermione asked as she met him and Ron near the large notice board in the Gryffindor Common room. Harry shuddered in response. After having stealthily put on his clothes, tiptoeing past that white-haired freak, and trying his utmost best not to make noise, he was exhausted. Yet he could still remember the image of those glowing eyes and furious countenance.

Ron hastened to explain to the bemused Hermione. "It's that foreign bloke we met on the train, last night he shouted so loud and scared us out of our wits. Bloody git, we were just having a conversation. The sooner he goes back to where he came from, the better." He was cut off short by Harry's elbow cutting into his ribs. "OW! YOU-"

Hitsugaya descended down the steps amid the crowd of murmurers and pointers. The aura he was sending out was _cold_ and his face in his usual scowl. He lifted his eyes and looked at Ron.

Ron made a strange rubber squeaking noise and hurriedly turned around. "Anyway," He continued loudly. "Seamus reckons Harry's lying about You-Know-Who."

It did no good, seeing as Hitsugaya approached the group. Ron, in a state of panic (and sheer idiocy), turned around and shouted, "We weren't talking about you, honest!" into Hitsugaya's face along with frantic gesticulations.

Hitsugaya paused mid-stride.

"What?" He asked. Hermione slipped in with a smooth excuse. "What Ron is trying to say is that he thought you misunderstood our conversation. We were actually talking about-"

Hitsugaya interuppted her, his face trained upwards. "What does that sign say?" The three followed his gaze at a large new neon-colored sign.

**Gallons of Galleons!**

**Pocket money failing to keep pace with your outgoings?**

**Like to earn a little extra gold?**

**Contact Fred and George Weasley, Gryffindor Common room for simple, part-time, virtually painless jobs.**

**(We regreat that all work is undertaken at applicant's own risk)**

The sharp child genius noted that the last part was several sizes smaller than the font used.

"Oh nothing!" Hermione said, scandilized, giving the sign one swift horrified look. Then she quickly whispered to Ron and Harry.

Of course, Hitsugaya wasn't the youngest academic phenomenen for nothing. He caught the rest of the conversation quite easily.

"They are the limit. We'll have to talk to them, Ron." With this, Hermione ripped the poster off the board startling all in close vicinity.

Ron started. "Why?"

"Because we're prefects!" She snarled back. "It's up to us to stop this kind of thing!"

This kind of thing? Was it illegal experimentation or what? Hitsugaya glanced at the crumpled up poster in Hermione's hand then swept by the group.

"I can hear you know." With that, he disappeared out of the common room.

Open-mouthed, Hermione gaped after him. "I told you!" Ron exclaimed impudently. "That prat is practically another Malfoy clone." Harry silently agreed, goodness knows that no one wanted _two_ Malfoys running about the place.

Hermione quickly snapped her jaw into place after realizing that she was acting like a troll. "Oh stop it, he might be rude and cold on the outside, but I bet he's very scared and timid on the inside!"

Ron and Harry looked at each other aghast. Could Hermione be more wrong? They sincerely doubted that Hitsugaya was timorous on the inside with his rather _colorful_ speech last night.

"He's a cold block of ice through and through." Harry muttered.

"Well I think it's a pity we're not trying for a bit of inter-House unity," Hermione muttered, peeved. The group exited the common room and went down the large marble staircase, making sure to skip the fifth step. "Yeah, we really ought to be trying to make friends with people like that." Harry said, spouting sarcasm.

-----------------

Meanwhile, Hitsugaya was already sitting (he followed that boy who had been fighting with Harry the other night) at the table and taking small bites of his toast.

He observed Potter and his friends unnoticed, wondering if young people were really that ignorant these days. _Off to a bad start_, he thought absently, _I'm now an egotistical sociopathic foreigner who has brief psychotic disorder in their eyes. Who cares? I have better things to do, like hunting down rumors of Arrancar. And studying._

A glob of digested animal matter suddenly landed in his glass of milk, jerking him out of his thoughts. He quickly looked up to identify which bird had went to the bathroom over his food, only to meet a shower of raindrops.

A multitude of owls soared in from the windows and were all carrying packages. He watched to see a large barn owl suddenly land near Hermione..? and deposit a soggy newspaper roll.

Soul Society had it much more easier. At least butterflies didn't feel the need to loosen their bowels over people's breakfasts. Feeling a bad mood surfacing, Hitsugaya shoved the glass of milk away from him, almost knocking it into his neighbor's porridge.

A slip of paper was shoved in front of his nose, he quickly looked up to see Professor McGonagoll give him a curt greeting and distribute papers.

_Ah. My schedule._ Reaching for a second piece of dry toast, he examined the piece of paper.

1st class: History of Magic. Professor: Binns

2nd class: Double Potions with Slytherin. Professor: Snape.

3rd class: Divination. Professor: Trelawney.

4th class: Double Defense against the Dark Arts with Hufflepuff. Professor: Umbridge.

It was like being in Shinigami Academy all over again. Except that back then he actually knew what classes he was taking. Hitsugaya stared hard, especially at the names of his professors. _Couldn't the headmaster have given me some introductions?_

The stupid slip of paper didn't even say where the classrooms were either! He gave an audible groan.

Suddenly a long, gangly, hand reached past his shoulder and made for his schedule. Hitsugaya watched as the paper was taken and the arm retreated.

Curse his gigai's slow reflexes.

He whirled around to face the intruder, his hand clasping instinctively behind his back for Hyouinmaru before realizing that there was no sword there.

Thus, he quickly adopted a scratching-the-back-of-my-head-for-no-reason gesture before he looked idiotic.

"Hallo midget." Two identical male twins chorused while looking at him cheekily. One of them was clutching the paper. Hitsugaya's left eyelid started to pulse erratically. Was he fated to be annoyed by stupid..._**red-haired**_...individuals? Or in this case, clones?

"What do you want." He had a thing for turning interrogative statements into imperative ones, a trait that Matsumoto had always commented on. Both boys looked at each other, sharing secret wicked grins, and suddenly pulled out small boxes from their robes.

"Your schedule is bloody awful." The one on the left stated bluntly.

"You probably want to skip class." The other tactfully said.

"And we can help." They said in unison. Hitsugaya wondered how long it would take for him to grab the paper, chop-suey them, and to go to his first class.

"Have some Nosebleed Nougat, mate."

"We'll make it especially cheap for you."

"Once swallowed, the nougat will then activate the blood vessels to start pumping the stuff out of your nose. Therefore, you have an excuse to skip class for the rest of the day." The both of them beamed in a traditional promotion gesture.

Hitsugaya abandoned the scratching gesture, his emerald eyes narrowed in irritation. "And what happens if the vessels keep on pumping?"

"You don't miss a thing do you?" This time, the right one smiled.

"Pretty smart for a titchy midget." The left one crossed his arms and gave a mocking grin that went under Hitsugaya's skin. The words, _titchy midget_, slammed into his skull and was branded across his forehead with a sizzling, steaming, hot iron.

This was all done mentally of course.

"The blood will stop coming out after..."

"Nine minutes."

"30 minutes."

"An hour."

"2 hours."

"More like 9 hours," The left twin replied thoughtfully. The right clone threw him a quick dirty look that did not go unnoticed by Hitsugaya.

"But all of that is bearable, isn't it? The chance of skipping class is very.." Suddenly both of them were up in front of Hitsugaya's face, _way_ too close for comfort.

"Tantilizing."

Hitsugaya gave them an icy back-off stare and snatched the paper from the right twin's hand. "The prospect is very inviting," he said sardonically. "Despite for that small fact that I would lose probably 10 gallons of blood."

Standing up, he glared at them with all his mighty five feet and 2 inches. "Instead of trying to peddle your, no doubt, illegal products, why don't you both go and take a good-sized helping of your nougat and leave this very not-fooled person _alone_?" Elbowing past them, he stomped away. Being called short and titchy had that effect on people.

The twins looked at the retreating figure.

"That was your fault George."

"I wasn't the one who used the word, tantilizing. Of all words to choose from!"

"Ah well, let's go and trick some other gullible midgets."

The infamous Fred and George headed towards Harry, Ron, and Hermione, no doubt that they fell into the "gullible midgets" category.

And seeing as their pockets became considerably relieved of the small packages, they were probably right.

---------------

_This chapter wasn't very long due to the fact that I'm sick and was locked out of my house. I really loved the reviews, thank you so much for your encouraging words! I also love the criticism Sanosuke Hidane. Thanks so much!! Sorry that there wasn't much improvement in the cutting of sarcastic remarks. He'll get more serious later on._


	5. English Classes

**The Muggle with White Hair**

**NOTE**: _I am no way copying any other BLEACHHP fics out there. Have fun reading, eating, flaming, criticizing! Also, this story takes place during the Order of the Phoenix arc._

Chapter Five: English Classes

Hitsugaya wondered what in the world posessed him to leave the Great Hall. Ah yes, the twins. Selling stuff. _They called me a midget!_

A voice that distinctly reminded Hitsugaya of a whirling hailstorm, interruppted his thoughts.

**"Get a grip and remember where you are." **Hyouinmaru rumbled in his mind.

The cool presence of his zanpaktou calmed Hitsugaya. "Right." He mumbled. The sinous ice dragon, satisfied, retreated back to the depths of his mind.

Crossing arms over his, albeit way too big, robes, Hitsugaya paused.

"Where am I?"

------------------------

Harry was shaken out of his stupor by a wheezing, red-faced, full of glee, Argus Filch whom had burst into the classroom the minute prior.

Everyone was shaken awake (besides Hermione) and Professor Binns paused in his monotonous lecture.

"Professor Binns," A toothy, wicked grin spread over Filch's wrinkled face. A smile that was much hated by Hogwarts students. The smile turned several inches longer as someone stepped into the room behind him.

Hitsugaya Toushirou cast his look over the classroom, his eyes briefly pausing at the floating Professor Binns then turning to look at Harry. In response, Harry glared defiantly back. _Definitely a prat_, Harry thought to himself.

"Professor Binns," Filch repeated, tasting victory on his tongue. The ghost looked at him with a blank look. "Argus?" He mumbled. The caretaker clutched Hitsugaya's arm with bony fingers, estatic. "This student claims that he's in your class this period." He wheezed while Hitsugaya tried to tug away.

The class whispered, nudging each other and pointing none-too-discreetly at Hitsugaya.

"The bloke has white hair!"

"Bleached it do you reckon?"

"What a freak!"

Having been assaulted by these remarks for as long as he could remember, Hitsugaya ignored them. _Let the simple-minded talk._

"He's pretty short for a 5th year."

Actually-

Professor Binns who had floated, snail-like, towards his desk and retrieved his attendance sheet broke into Hitsugaya's murderous thoughts.

"Hitsugaya Toushirou?" He asked, his accent not that bad. Slightly relieved on not having his name dissected syllable by syllable, Hitsugaya nodded.

Filch was practically drooling, the prospect of having a trouble-maker was overwhelming.

"He's in my class," Binns stated not aware that he had dashed the hopes of the over sixty caretaker. Filch made a grimace and shoved Hitsugaya towards Binns. "Alright, then." Then in a lower whisper; "The next time you're wandering around the halls I'll take you directly to the Head of the House." He threatened.

Having lost interest in the harried caretaker, the rest of the class focused on Hitsugaya. "You may be seated." Binns gestured slowly to the empty seat near Ron and Harry (both turned pale). Hitsugaya gave a curt nod in reply.

"Your books?" the professor inquired as Hitsugaya sat down empty-handed. "I'm supposed to borrow from the school." He replied cooly. Binns, with all the speed of a dead plus spirit, gave a used torn copy of A History of Magic to Hitsugaya. Then he resumed the lesson.

Hitsugaya had been a straight-A, model student back in his Academy days. He had also developed the power to listen to lectures, no matter how _dull_ and _boring_ they were. Something that the rest of the students lacked. It didn't really matter to him if they failed school.

He dutifully took down notes about giant wars (something he probably had to catch up on later) while ignoring Ron and Harry's hangman game.

Especially when the small stick figure dangling from it's cord started to look suspiciously like him.

----------

Hitsugaya loosened the collar on his robes, enjoying the faint drizzle of rain and the chilly September weather. He was three paces behind Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but his attention was diverted by a cool gust of wind. Reveling in the weather, he followed the three closely under an ablong balcony.

"Hello Harry!" The same black-haired girl from the train (who Hitsugaya had scared away) approached Harry. Hitsugaya focused on a large sky-blue badge with a double golden T on the front of the girl's robes and wondered who would possibly want to wear such an atrocity.

"Is that a Tornados badge?" Ron had asked accusingly; answering Hitsugaya's question. "You don't support them do you?"

Wondering when they were going to start moving again, the 10th division captain trained his face upwards to catch the fat drops dripping from the edge of the balcony. He liked rain, especially the freezing kinds. Not the weak spring mist that frizzed his white hair, but the cold thundering ones.

A sudden bell-like noise echoed along the yard causing students to groan and quicken their pace. "That's the bell." Harry commented, for whom Hitsugaya couldn't tell. He followed them across the long stretch of grass, down a steep staircase, along a musty section of rooms, and into a cold black _dungeon_.

Cliche.

He chose a seat near the back, quite near Ron and Harry, and shook the wetness from his stiff hair.

"Settle down," a tall, dark man swept into the classroom, shutting the door heavily behind him. The students had been immediately silenced as he had entered so there was really no need for this demand. He had a haughty expression on his face and an air that disturbingly reminded Hitsugaya of Kurotsuchi-taichou. The man paused at Hitsugaya's desk.

"Well," He said softly, his eyes trained on the exchange student. "Students never cease to amaze me with their, truly, idiotic fashion trends these days." His voice harsh and criticizing. "What's your house boy?"

A familiar rat and his two cronies sniggered.

Ah, so the man was commenting on his white hair. Hitsugaya hesitated slightly, no doubt that this man was going to report him to McGonagoll. "Gryffindor." He murmured.

A rather unpleasant impression of an eagle looked down at him. "Ten points from Gryffindor for atrocious-colored hair and another ten points for not wearing your house badge. Wash your hair of that sickening dye before coming into my class." He pointed towards the door.

Harry was torn in between hating Snape or laughing at Hitsugaya.

In response, Hitsugaya lay sedentary at his seat. The points system was probably some sort of discipline method. "It's not possible to wash my hair of hair dye." He started with an air of having explained this too many times before. "This is my natural color."

A respite, then before the professor could harp on Hitsugaya any further, Hermione raised her hand quickly. "Professor Snape, Hitsugaya Toushirou is a foreign exchange student." She speedily said.

Professor Snape turned slowly to Hermione and back to Hitsugaya. "Ah, a _foreigner_." He said, as if the word was nasty on his tongue. "Five points from Gryffindor miss Granger, for your outburst." Ignoring the outraged looks thrown at him from the Gryffindors he walked past Toushirou to his desk.

Harry and Ron stared daggers at Hitsugaya as if it was his fault that they had lost 25 points in one day. Which it sort of was.

"Before we begin today's lesson, I think it appropriate to remind you that next June you will prove how much you have learned about the composition and use of magical potions. Moronic though some of this class undoubtedly are, I expect you to scrape an 'acceptable' in your O.W.L., or suffer my...displeasure."

Yep, definitely Kurotsuchi-taichou. Hitsugaya threw an irritable look at Ron and Harry. Could they stop glaring at him? Actually, could the whole class stop staring at him? Granted he did feel bad for Hermione, but he could really care less if he lost all the points of Gryffindor!

"Start." Snape said, jerking the attention away from poor Hitsugaya back to the teacher. Both Harry and Ron looked startled and threw desperate glances at the large blackboard.

While the rest of the class was heating up their cauldrons, Snape strode back towards Hitsugaya. "Unprepared are we? Ten points-"

Hitsugaya interuppted him. "The funds for the foreign exchange program couldn't stretch that far so the headmaster has granted me borrowed materials."

Snape curled his lip up in annoyance before gesturing to the cupboard. "Get your materials then and start working." He walked away to glare at another unfortunate student. Hitsugaya managed to throw a heated look at the back of the professor then started reading the instructions on the blackboard.

_"Add powdered moonstone, stir three times counterclockwise, allow to simmer for seven miuntes, then add two drops of syrup of hellebore._"

Great.

---------

He glanced down at the fine silver vapor drifting from his cauldron. Was that supposed to be good or bad? Hitsugaya quickly glanced around him.

Harry's cauldron had dark gray fumes drifting from it, Ron's was spitting dangerously with little green sparks, Neville's had turned solid, and the boy who had called Harry a madman the night before was quickly stamping out flames.

Hermione's, however, was also issuing a fine silver mist. _Good_, Hitsugaya thought, a little proud. He ran a weary hand across his thick white hair before glancing at his cauldron again. He assumed that he made the potion correctly seeing as Snape stared at it, but made no comment.

Bottling the substance into a flask, Hitsugaya put his name on it (in unsteady English), and brought it up to Snape's desk.

"Did you do everything on the third line, Potter?" Snape asked, sneering at an embarrassed Harry.

"No," he mumbled.

"I beg your pardon?"

"No, I forgot the hellebore."

"I know you did, Potter, which means that this mess is utterly worthless. _Evanesco_."

Hitsugaya watched in fascination and pity as the contents of Harry's cauldron disappeared with a flick of Snape's wand.

"Those of you who have managed to read the instructions, fill one flagon with a sample of your potion, label it clearly with your name, (here Snape smirked at Hitsugaya) and bring it up to my desk for testing. Homework: twelve inches of parchment on the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion-making, to be handed in on Thursday."

How was he supposed to study ahead, search for the Arrancar, protect the Potter brat, AND do homework? Hitsugaya thought as he cleared his things with more force than necessary.

Why couldn't Soul Society send him a platoon or something?

Suddenly, a brief image of Ikkaku throttling Snape with Houzukimaru crossed his mind.

Okay, so maybe he now understood why it was a solo mission.

The bell rang and Harry rocketed out of the classroom, closely followed by Ron and Hermione. Feeling no need to rush (and to stew in his own thoughts), Hitsugaya took his time to get down to the Great Hall.

He finally arrived in time to hear the last snatches of conversation.

"I mean..you know..now he's in the Order and everything." Hermione commented on quietly before shrieking as Hitsugaya sat down across from her.

He raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

She turned red and clapped her hands nervously with each other. "Oh, nothing!" She trilled. Hitsugaya blinked his emerald eyes slowly and turned back to his shepherd's pie.

"Thanks."

Hermione stared uncomprehendingly at Hitsugaya.

"Eh?"

"Thanks for telling Snape that I'm an exchange student. I wanted to tell him myself, but I've got the impression that he reaps pleasure in picking on people."

All three stared. It was the most long sentence they had heard from Hitsugaya that wasn't a bellowed oath.

Deciding that he didn't like shepherd's pie, Hitsugaya moved his books to more comfortable position under his arm, and stood up.

"Well then." He nodded at them and left.

Ron stared after the white-haired child. "Well that was-"

"Surprising." Harry finished, also awed.

Hermione looked triumphant. "I told you that he was reserved! Now all we have to do is break down his outer shell and discover the true Hetsugellia!"

Hitsugaya had not been quite out of proximity when she had said this.

Therefore, he suddenly threw an angry, freezing look at them that promised eternal and excruciating pain if they ever called him by that name again.

_Then_ he left.

"Okay then..maybe not."

----

_Ohgosh, I am so...so...sick. The next chapter will probably come on Sunday or Saturday. Sorry for all!! (sobs)_


	6. Trelawney and Umbridge

**The Muggle with White Hair**

**NOTE**: _I am no way copying any other BLEACHHP fics out there. Have fun reading, eating, flaming, criticizing! Also, this story takes place during the Order of the Phoenix arc._

Chapter 6: Trelawney and Umbridge

"Intruder! I challenge you to a duel, a man's duel!"

Hitsugaya stared at the small armor-clad knight that was brandishing a long silver sword. Was a painting _yelling_ at him?

"What are you?"

The knight puffed up his chest and raised his visor. "My name is Sir Cadogan, you scurvy dog! Now fight with me!" He advanced closer (as close as an occupant of a painting can go). In response, Hitsugaya blinked and walked away.

He then suddenly paused and turned back.

"OHOHOHO! Have you changed your mind? Have you gathered courage in your bones? Have you-"

"Where's the North Tower?" Hitsugaya cut off Sir Cadogan's rant. Sir Cadogan paused and lowered the sword thoughtfully. "Past my portrait and keep following the one with the wolfhound in it." The sword was raised menacingly again. "But you shall not pass! Do you hear me? YOU SHALL NOT PREVA-"

-------------------

Harry stared at Sir Cadogan's portrait. Or what was left of it. The knight himself was frozen mid-leap among his now winter-woodland setting. In other words, the whole painting was encased in a block of ice.

----------------

Maybe he over did it. Hitsugaya thought as his eyes traced over the outline of the trapdoor on the ceiling. He couldn't help himself though, what better way to vent frustrations than to use Hyouinmaru on a talking painting? Wondering on whether he would be charged with abuse of Hogwarts cultural history, Hitsugaya spent the rest of the lunch period staring overhead.

The trapdoor opened making Hitsugaya jump. He barely missed being crushed in the skull by the silver ladder that thudded down to the floor.

"Welcome." Called a rather high and indistinct voice from above the door. "Class has started."

Eyeing the silver ladder distrustfully, (he had been accosted by a disappearing staircase just an hour before) Hitsugaya wrapped his robe firmly around his waist and ascended.

A sudden wave of the powerful stench of perfume slammed into Hitsugaya making him gasp for air. Choking, he shifted his watering eyes to the humming figure striding across the room. It was no doubt Professor Trelawney.

Or was it?

She had giant spectacles that continually slipped off her nose and long necklaces that tangled themselves in her arms. Her long robes constricted her movements, but didn't interfere as she placed second-hand books on the many tables. Professor Trelawney obviously had not seen Hitsugaya climb into the room since she still continued putting books on table.

The light was dull and the room was void of sunshine. Glad of the temporary shadows, Hitsugaya took his place on an overstuffed cushion.

A few minutes later and Harry's head appeared from the opening. He spotted Hitsugaya and hesitantly wandered over to him.

"Sorry about the naming incident back there." Harry said looking very uncomfortable.

Hitsugaya grunted.

"We promise not to call you Hetsugellia anymore."

Grunt.

"What's your real name?"

Another grunt, this time it sounded annoyed.

"Right. So I'll just-"

Ron leaped from the ladder and walked towards Harry and HItsugaya. "Hermione and me have stopped arguing." He interrupted.

"Good."

"But Hermione says she thinks it would be nice if you stopped taking out your temper on us." Ron seemed to notice Hitsugaya. "Hey Hetsugellia!"

"I'm not-"

"Good day!" Professor Trelawney adjusted her spectacles and smiled. Both Harry and Hitsugaya broke off looking perturbed.

"And welcome back to Divination. I have, of course, been following your fortunes most carefully over the holidays, and am delighted to see that you have all returned to Hogwarts safely-"

She stopped, her expression growing horrified as she spotted Hitsugaya sneezing in the back of the room. Leaping up she pointed her trembling fingernails at him.

"You..you!" Pausing dramatically mid-sentence, she shook her arm feverishly causing her bangles to...welll...bangle.

Hitsugaya closed the lids of his emerald eyes and opened them slowly again.

"You..you... are the incarnation of the heavenly guardian, Takahiro, said to come only to give divine judgement from the Realm of Shinigami!"

A long period of silence.

Obviously satisfied of the disturbance she created, Trelawney opened her mouth to speak more.

She never got there.

The captain of the 10th squad of the Gotei 13 vaulted over the table and pulled out a small lighter. Amid the gaping students he lifted it high up and slammed his thumb forcefully on the button.

A cloud of smoke engulfed the room, combatting the disgusting scent of perfume. A small plastic bunny sprung from the top of the lighter, bobbing its pink head. It squeaked before Hitsugaya aggressively pushed it back into the lighter.

Under cover of the smoke, Hitsugaya returned to his seat. The roiling mass of dust vanished leaving Trelawney still speaking.

"Turn, please, to the introduction and read what Imago has to say on the matter of dream interpretation. Then, divide into pairs. Use _The Dream Oracle_ to interpret each other's most recent dreams. Carry on."

But then, he was extremely lucky in remembering to bring the Memory Modifier. Who knew that there was a half-cracked lunatic teaching in Hogwarts that had some sort of spiritual vision? He'd have to make a report later concerning this, _Trelawney_, person to Soul Society. _I'd better watch out for her_.

Picking up the tatty book, Hitsugaya lost himself among its pages. It was rather dull and boring, Imago's theories only relied on factors of chance and luck. The whole thing was a load of bull, fit only to be read by newly recruited shinigami. It was just his luck to land in this class.

"Oy, Hetsugellia!" Ron waved his hand in front of Hitsugaya's face. Startled, the white-haired captain glared. "What?" He said aggravated.

"Do you remember any of your dreams?"

Glancing back down at the pages of _The Dream Oracle_, Hitsugaya frowned. "I had a dream...that I was being suffocated." _By my fuku-taichou's gigantic assets._

"Probably means that you're going to be eaten by a giant marshmallow or something." Harry yawned, shutting the book.

Ron instead flipped the pages of his own worn book frantically. "I had a dream that I was playing Quidditch the other night," He said as he stared at a specific page.

Harry had already returned to lazy reminiscing, no doubt thinking about a certain black-haired girl while Hitsugaya looked rather confused.

"What's Quidditch?"

The answer he expected was not both Ron and Harry leaping from their poufs and yelling, "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT QUIDDITCH IS?" into his eardrums.

And thus the rest of Divination class was explaining the rules of the game to the ignorant Hitsugaya.

-----

"D'you realize how much homework we've got already? Binns set us a foot-and-a-half-long essay on giant wars, Snape wants a foot on the use of moonstones, and now we've got a month's dream diary from Trelawney! Fred and George weren't wrong about O.W.L. year, were they? That Umbridge woman had better not give us any.." Ron ranted on.

Harry muttered something under his breath at the mention of Trelawney while Hitsugaya grimaced. Did he have to be reminded of the homework? It was like paperwork, only in a more worse, tedious form. Is that why he was chosen for this mission?

Well there were a few good points. Ron and Harry no longer thought Hitsugaya as "pratty" as before and there was Quidditch...To be honest, he was fascinated by this wizarding sport. It sounded just as good as soccer. The tryouts were being held at five on Friday too...

He walked into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and stopped short. A gigantic blob of flesh was sitting at the teacher's desk. Seconds of quick thinking later, Hitsugaya realized that it was the teacher. Professor Umbridge.

She was in the process of adjusting her _pink_ cardigan and tying a velvet ribbon around her flat head when she flashed a smile, all pointy teeth, to the incoming students.

Hitsugaya eyed the "fashion disaster" (as Yumichika would call her) and sat down silently.

"Well, good afternoon!" She simpered, throwing looks of good-will at the students.

Harry and Ron mumbled a greeting back.

"Tut, tut. That won't do, now, will it? I should like you, please, to reply 'Good Afternoon, Professor Umbridge.' One more time, please. Good afternoon class!"

Oh gosh, _Professor_ Umbridge was frizzling Hitsugaya's nerves. He was aware of his painfully short height, aware of his outstanding white hair, and aware of the many children that smirked and grinned at him. So did she _have_ to add a very unneccessary drawl to her voice making him feel as if he was 60 years old again?

During his roiling, rumbling thoughts and the itching of his fingers to grab Hyouinmaru, Umbridge pointed at the board with her wand. The original writing was swept away only to be replaced by the same curly script.

Gripping his quill as an effort to calm down (he was destroying his reputation of being an ice captain), Hitsugaya wrote the course aims on paper dotted with numerous holes.

Harry nudged him as Hitsugaya made his seventh hole. "Stop tearing your parchment." He muttered.

"Has everybody got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?" Umbridge called as the ripping noises stopped.

"No." Hitsugaya said forcefully among the quiet "yes's" Umbridge moved her small piggy eyes in mock confusion. "And you are?"

"Hitsugaya Toushirou." He abandoned his angry facade and adopted his infamous one. Umbridge glanced at her long attendance list and back at Hitsugaya. "Ah, so you're the foreign exchange student!" Her voice was falsified sweetness. She produced a brand new copy of the book from her desk and waved it at him. "Come here Mr.Toosheroo."

At least the woman didn't call him Shirou-chan. Why was she even calling him by his first name? Ah yes, English traditions.

"Take good care of it." She said, as if the book was a living, breathing, orphaned object. Hitsugaya swiped it off her fat ringed fingers. As he started to turn back Umbridge stopped him.

"Your welcome Mr. Toosheroo."

Wishing that she would stop maiming his first name, he turned back. "Thank you." He paused. "Professor. Umbridge." He really had to get used to this subordinate thing. After 50 years of being a captain, of always being referred as 'sir' and 'no sir', this professor thing was pretty exasperating.

He returned to his desk and Umbridge began once again. "Since you all have your Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard books, turn to page five and read chapter one, 'Basics for Beginners.' There will be no need for talk."

Seeing as Hitsugaya was immune to falling into the traps boredom set before him, he steadily worked his way through the chapter. It felt like uphill work. Harry was staring at the same spot on the page, constantly fidgeting and looking around. Ron was twirling his quill in a mechanical fashion, his eyes glazing over. Hermione had not even touched her book yet. She must be _really_ bored.

This Slinkhard fellow probably had no friends. This thought became increasingly repetetive as Hitsugaya turned the page. The people who had called _Hitsugaya_ boring should read this book. Absentminded, he propped the book open on top of the desk and tapped the leather binding.

Realizing that the whole content was redundant, Hitsugaya abandoned reading. He had already gotten the main gist of what Slinkhard was trying to say, there was no need to read on. Pondering on what everyone was doing back home, Hitsugaya let his attention drift.

Matsumoto was temporarily taking his position, in other words, completeing the rest of unfinished documents that were lying stagnant on his desk. He had practically forgetten what color the wood was, so large was the accumulation. Of course, she could be shirking her duties and be having an alchoholic binge with the other seated officers.

Other seated officers including...Izuru, Shunsui plausibly, Abarai most probably, Hisagi--. Actually, Hisagi was probably busy handling captain and lieutanant work. Then again Matsumoto would always be rather persuasive.

He shuddered.

Unohana-taichou would be making her daily 4th division rounds along with her fuku-taichou and that clumsy Yamada of the 7th seat. 11th division would be the ones in the infirmary obviously, Zaraki (no taichou name for him!) had never reined them in. Kusajishi-fuku-taichou would be-oh gosh he didn't want to know what _she_ would be doing! Most likely thinking of ways to torture Kuchiki-taichou for candy. One of these days he'll release his zanpaktou...then they're all going to be in trouble.

A strange, painful, twang entered his heart. Hitsugaya felt a little sick in his stomach. Disconcerted by this strange feeling, he shook it away.

How would Hinamori be doing? He had paid her a special goodbye before leaving, but her response was always the same. Slow and steady breathing. But then he would rather hear her breathe than her hopeful belief that Aizen would come back. Anger suddenly settled on his chest, twining itself into a large and resentful beast. Curse that Aizen for shattering Hinamori's beliefs, her hope, and mostly...her innocence.

A shriek suddenly brought him down to the mortal world with a startled bump.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr.Potter."

Bewildered, Hitsugaya looked around the classroom. Everyone was tense, the whole room was still, he could go bankai without anyone even reacting (or maybe not), but the main cause was Umbridge and Harry. They were both maintaining eye contact with each other.

"Now, let me make a few things quite plain." Umbridge whispered malevolently, her piggy eyes narrowing. "You have been told that a certain Dark wizard has returned from the dead--"

"He wasn't dead, but yeah, he's returned." Harry spat out angrily.

Hitsugaya realized that Potter was treading on extremely _dangerous_ grounds. Harry was arguing with a professor, he was close to being punished, and he might lose all of Gryffindor's points.

Not that he really cared of course. However, he was supposed to be a "bodyguard" and he knew that Harry would regret his outburst later...

"Harry, no!" Hermione gasped as she grabbed Harry's sleeve.

Harry wrenched away angrily only to be caught by Hitsugaya. "Be quiet." He said softly, his eyes burning into the identical, if not slightly warmer, green eyes of Harry.

In response, he hissed and tugged his arm away. "Get off me you git!" Harry roared, blinded by fury. Hitsugaya silently cursed at him. _Why in the world was he so...immature? Umbridge had obviously been trying to goad Harry, so why does he fall for it so easily?_

"Stop being stupid." Hitsugaya said, his voice slightly rising. Then in a quieter tone, "Think about where you are."

Harry threw daggers at Hitsugaya and, to no avail, turned to Umbridge. "So, according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord, did he?"

Silence much like the one earlier suddenly arrived. Most students had curious, frightened looks on their faces while others had sad pale expressions. _Cedric Diggory?_ Hitsugaya quickly brushed away his confusion. No time in being bewildered.

"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident." Umbridge said quietly.

Realizing that Harry had already crossed the line, Hitsugaya tried to prevent him from losing it. "Shut up!"

Both Umbridge and Harry wondered on who Hitsugaya was referring to.

"Both of you!"

Ah never mind.

"Harry stop throwing your little tantrums. Professor Umbridge, please forgive Potter's outburst." Hitsugaya had Harry's hand in a death grip, his knuckles turning a similar shade like his hair.

All for naught. Umbridge gave a toothy smile. "Come here, Mr.Potter, dear." Harry slapped Hitsugaya's hand off and pounded towards the desk. She handed him an ominous pink note. "Take this to Professor McGonagall, dear."

As Harry crossed the threshold with the pink note crushed in his hand, Umbridge spoke again. "You too Mr.Too-she-roo." Hitsugaya was faintly aware that she had just rhymed. "Despite your self-control, I have no choice but to also send you."

She smirked as Hitsugaya raised an indignant, yet inquiring glance. "You just disrespected a Hogwarts professor." She said simply then gave a gesture, dismissing him.

Extremely annoyed by the turn of events, his plan had backfired on him, Hitsugaya followed Harry out the door. Harry was not in the mood to talk, he refused to look back as both sped along the hallways.

That was where a little man, floating, was juggling some rather dangerously fragile objects in the air.

"Why, it's Potty Wee Potter and Titchy White Midget!" The man sniggered as he aimed the two objects at Hitsugaya and Harry. Both jumped away, Hitsugaya not in time, as ink spattered his robes. Furious, he glared at this strange human. "Get out of it, Peeves." Harry snarled.

"Oooh, Crackpot's feeling cranky. What is it this time, my fine Potty friend?-"

He stopped in mid-speech as Hitsugaya gave him the full taste of _the glare_. "You heard him." Peeves distinctly thought he saw a huge, ferocious, dragon, completely made of ice, coil itself around the boy and rumble ominously.

**Be gone from my presence or I shall loose my fury on you, you pathetic little soul!**

Dropping all of the inkwells onto the floor, Peeves gulped suddenly and fled.

Harry was too angry to be amazed on how quickly Peeves ran away, he threw an exacerbated look at Hitsugaya and marched on.

"Harry-" Hitsugaya started, Hyouinmaru having safely settled back. He was cut off. "Shut up." Harry snapped back, too incensed to care. His eyes narrowing, Hitsugaya suddenly grabbed Harry's elbow. "Harry, listen to me."

Harry shot him a livid look. "Stop hanging onto me."

Pursing his lips, Hitsugaya wrapped his fingers tighter. "Listen to me first."

"Get the bloody hell off me."

"Shut up and listen to-"

"I SAID GET THE BLOODY HELL OFF ME!"

A door suddenly slammed open and Professor McGonagall stepped out from her office, looking irate. "What on earth are you shouting about, Potter? Why aren't you in class?" She paused, frowning at the scene before her. "Toushirou, kindly remove your hand from Potter." She snapped. Both jumped apart, vexed.

"I've been sent to see you." Harry muttered, crumpling the pink note harder.

"Sent? What do you mean, sent?"

The note was handed over, slitted open, and read. Professor McGonagall finally closed the note. "Come in here, Potter. You too Toushirou." Both followed her in. McGonagall confronted Harry at once. "Well? Is this true?"

"Is what true? Professor?" Harry tried to strangle his aggressiveness.

"Is it true that you shouted at Professor Umbridge?"

"Yes."

"You called her a liar?"

"Yes."

"You told her He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back?"

"Who?" Hitsugaya interrupted.

"Yes." Harry ignored him.

"In other words Toushirou, he is the dark wizard that Dumbledore has warned you about." Professor McGonagall said, not once looking away from Harry. Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow. "You mean Voldemort?"

She winced as she opened up a plaid tin. "Yes." McGonagall paused. "Have a biscuit, Potter, Toushirou."

They looked startled. "Have-what?" Potter stumbled. Hitsugaya wondered if this was yet again another weird English thing. Harry picked out a cookie, Hitsugaya followed albeit more slowly seeing as he knew nothing of wizard snacks. The small cinnamon-scented cookie tasted horrible, like a mix of soul candy and Yachiru's chewed up bubblegum. Nevertheless, the stoic ice captain swallowed it down.

"Potter, you need to be careful."

That was what he was trying to say before! Hitsugaya simmered, feeling slightly queasy as the cookie continued its journey down his esophagus.

"Misbehavior in Dolores Umbridge's class could cost you much more than House points and a detention."

Now, that was interesting. _What could Professor McGonagall be possibly insinuating?_ He thought.

"What do you--?" Harry started.

"Potter, use your common sense. You know where she comes from, you must know to whom she is reporting."

_What? Wait, what did she mean?_

The bell struck echoing down the corridors. McGonagall looked down. "It says here she's given you detention every evening this week, starting tomorrow."

"Every evening this week! But, Professor, couldn't you--?" Harry looked horrified. _Well, you should've known the consequences_. Hitsugaya pondered on what McGonagall was talking about earlier. "No, I couldn't."

"But-"

"She is your teacher and has every right to give you detention. You will go to her room at five o'clock tomorrow for the first one. Just remember: Tread carefully around Dolores Umbridge."

Hitsugaya stopped Harry's rant. "What do you mean?" McGonagall looked down at him doubtfully. "Professor Umbridge is part of the staff at the Ministry of Magic."

_Right, and that was?_ Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow. "The Ministry of Magic is one of the sole reasons that the magical world has not been discovered by muggles." She sniffed, clearly disappointed at how lacking Hitsugaya's knowledge was. "They refuse to believe that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back, publicly slandering Potter and unknowingly endangering many." She adjusted her square-lensed glasses. "They are adamant on refusing to believe the existence of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. An obstacle-"

"But I was telling the truth! Voldemort's back, you know he is, Professor Dumbledore knows he is--"

"For heaven's sake, Potter! Do you really think this is about truth or lies? It's about keeping your head down and your temper under control!" McGonagall shouted.

Hitsugaya glowered at Harry. Professor McGonagall recovered her temper and pushed the tin further across the desk. "Have another biscuit." He blanched while Harry coldly declined. They ended up taking one anyway.

"Didn't you listen to Dolores Umbridge's speech at the start-of-the-therm feast, Potter?"

"Yeah. Yeah...she said..progress will be prohibited or...well, it meant that...that the Ministry of Magic is trying to interfere at Hogwarts."

Professor McGonagall sniffed disdainfully. "Well, I'm glad you listen to Hermione Granger at any rate." She paused in thinking. "Why were you sent here Toushirou?"

"I was trying to stop Harry." Hitsugaya said curtly. "But Professor Umbridge decided to send me along too." McGonagall rolled her eyes. "Am I correct to think that you tried yelling?"

He grunted.

McGonagall showed them the door, giving her eyes one last roll as they walked past her. Harry at once started striding away.

"Harry."

Harry stopped. "Oh shut up." He resumed walking at a more faster pace and soon left the hall. Hitsugaya resisted the urge to impale the impertinent youngster.

_I thought I made progress only to be squashed in that stupid class. Whatever, I'd rather fight an Espada member than try and improve my social skills!_

**I think you should read instead.**

_That's... actually not a bad idea._

-------

_Yeah, the chapter was slightly rushed. I'm trying to cram in a lot of material seeing as a lot of people are being impatient. Hahehaheiwefd. Yup. Lots of hw. _


	7. Social Lacking

**The Muggle with White Hair**

**NOTE**: _I am no way copying any other BLEACHHP fics out there. Have fun reading, eating, flaming, criticizing! Also, this story takes place during the Order of the Phoenix arc. Warning of an Arrancar OC_

Chapter 7: Social Lacking

Hitsugaya steadily turned a page in his _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century_ book. He was settled comfortably in a high backed hard chair, no different from the one back in his office, and was surrounded by a congregation of leather-bound books. Titles such as, _Modern Magical History_, _Hogwarts: a History_, _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_, _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_, _A Compendium of Common Curses and their Counter-Actions_, _The Dark Arts Outsmarted_, _Self-Defensive Spellwork_, _Jinxes for the Jinxed_, and numerous others were scattered all along the table.

He had felt the need to study up on this, _magical_, realm and had at once arrived at the library. It was vastly different from the Archives room in Soul Society. For one thing, it was _huge_. The room was cavernous, expanding to the point where Hitsugaya could not guess the limit of books. The knowledge was infinite though, Ise-fuku taichou would be extremely pleased on seeing the accumulation.

"Here's another one." A rather squinty old lady thumped another book down on the table. Madam Pince in an extreme rare moment actually looked pleased. She clutched _An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe_ and was stroking the one she had recently put down, _Dreadful Denizens of the Deep_. Hitsugaya bowed his head in thanks.

"Need any more?" Madam Pince asked, a little hopefully. Hitsugaya eyed the mass of books in front of him. "Perhaps one more on great wizards?" He asked hesitantly. There was no need for hesitation, he realized, seeing as Madam Pince gave a twisted sort of smile and went scuttling off. At least she was helpful!

Not realizing that Madam Pince was described as "non-helpful" at the most by students, Hitsugaya read on. He was rather surprised on discovering that Harry was in several of the books. _He's put on a pedestal_, Hitsugaya thought with disgust. _It's enough to turn anyone's head around_.

And yet, he paused, Harry was far from a haughty, egotistical individual. He was modest and uncomfortable with attention. Hitsugaya noticed the way Harry would flatten his black hair, mostly over his lightning-bolt shaped scar.

_Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century_ landed next to him. Madam Pince leered very creepily. "Are you sure you don't need anything else?"

Hitsugaya was sure.

Madam Pince left, muttering in some sort of euphoria, as Hitsugaya closed his current book. _Enough is enough_, he thought, stretching. He was killing his eyes. Gathering the rather large tomes with difficulty, Hitsugaya checked out and staggered off.

Some students were still out, many were also going to the library. Hitsugaya walked rather slowly, hoping that he wouldn't drop any of the books. His gigai was exceptionally weak which was rather annoying, since Hitsugaya had requested one with moderate strength.

When he rounded the corner, a bunch of things happened simultaneously. First, Hitsugaya's cellphone rang. Second, Peeves appeared and launched a bright red water balloon at his head. Third, a group of Slytherins sneered and barreled into him. Fourth, Hitsugaya slipped on a random orange peel.

Down he went, swearing, and the books went flying in different directions. The Slytherins laughed uproariously (then started screaming as Peeves threw balloons down). His head drenched in water, Hitsugaya aimed a frigid look at Peeves (who ran away snickering) and dug into the pockets of his robes for the cellphone.

"_What?_" He demanded in an aggravated tone. A familiar soprano voice squealed over the line. "Taiiichhooouu!!!"

_Oh great, Matsumoto_.

"Not a great time Matsumoto." Hitsugaya replied, getting to his feet. A sudden, whiny voice echoed painfully in his ear. "But taichou, I'm so lonely and bored!"

He grabbed _Dreadful Denizens of the Deep_ and shook its sopping wet pages. Madam Pince would surely go medieval on his as-

"Taichou are you thereee??"

"Yes. Unfortunately." He snapped back. "Taichou," Matsumoto said in a reproving voice. "Is that a tone to take with your awesome lieutanant that hasn't seen you in weeks?"

Hitsugaya sighed. "What do you want. And make it quick!"

"Here we go again with your turning interrogative statements into imperative ones! Didn't I tell you-"

"Matsumoto, hurry up"

"Fine taichou. I was just calling because of the news Kyouraku-taichou said to tell you! This is also a double order from all the taichous."

Hitsugaya quickly became alert. A double, more like triple, more like multiple, order from _all_ the taichous? "What is it?"

"Well..."

"Matsumoto spit it out. NOW!"

"Alright alright!" A noise of static, Matsumoto was taking a deep breath. "All-the-taichous-miss-you-very-much-and-wonder-if-you're-having-fun-they're-expecting-souveneirs-when-you-get-back-and-are-sorry-that-you're-going-to-miss-the-cocktail-party-plus-Yachiru-wants-some-really-good-candy-and-I-destroyed-this-weeks-documents-along-with-your-favorite-calligraphy-brush-okay-bye-now-taichou!"

The line was hastily cut off.

A vein was pulsing, scratch that, it was _throbbing_.

"MATSUMOTO!"

---------------

Hours later, Hitsugaya labored into the Gryffindor Common Room. His hair was still wet and his back was sore from having tripped on that orange peel (which he chucked at the nearest Slytherin). He hauled in his burdens and tried to catch his breath.

He spotted Hermione placing some malformed cotton objects on a table by the fireplace while having a spat with the incredulous Ron. Harry was biting at his quill, looking slightly amused at the irregular knitted things covered in rubbish.

His small smile vanished on seeing the approaching Hitsugaya. "I'm going to bed too." He said hastily and left for the dormitory.

Hitsugaya resisted the urge to roll eyes. Could Harry be more obvious? Both Ron and Hermione left shortly after, looking embarrassed at Harry's behavior. They ran.

Blinking his eyes slowly, Hitsugaya quickly claimed their seats. He felt a little discouraged on having been so cold-shouldered, but shrugged it off. _Ah well, time to start on homework!_

-------

It was a rainy morning.

_Thank the heavens_, Hitsugaya thought as he walked briskly down the halls. If it had been a sunshiny morning, he would've taken it as a bad omen. Plus, Hyouinmaru would've been in a nasty mood. They both basked in the soft orchestra of rain before heading to the Great Hall.

After eating more toast and protectively shielding his milk from the owls above, Hitsugaya received his schedule. He felt a little amount of dread.

1st class: Double Charms with Ravenclaw. Professor: Flitwick

2nd class: Double Transfiguration with Hufflepuff. Professor: McGonagall

3rd class: Double Care of Magical Creatures with Slytherin. Professor: Grubbly-Plank

4th Class: Herbology. Professor: Sprout

Oh. Well. Perhaps last nights studying could help him today. Fixing his (he had FINALLY gotten a bookbag) bookbag, Hitsugaya stood and left the table. He recognized a familiar set of clones and quickly cut across the crowd, dodged behind some people, and exited the Great Hall to his first class.

Charms.

-------

"What you must remember is that these examinations may influence your futures for many years to come!" Professor Flitwick said, his voice cracking at some points.

Hitsugaya stared. He had finally found someone who was shorter and _older_ than him. Hallelujah. No seriously, Hallelu-!

"If you have not already given serious thought to your careers, now is the time to do so. And in the meantime, I'm afraid, we shall be working harder than ever to ensure that you all do yourselves justice!"

That morning was rather difficult. Hitsugaya felt increasingly idiotic as he waved his wand and tried to make things come to him. Was that why wizards were all so dang lazy? Did they perform every bit of their lives with magic?

He couldn't wait to dump the stick and run his hands along the smooth hilt and star-shaped guard of his zanpaktou. Hopefully that moment will come soon with the Espada threat and everything. HItsugaya frowned. Was there even an Espada threat? There had to be, Hitsugaya thought determinedly, why else would he have to suffer in a foreign country with stupid adolescents?

"_Are-sorry-that-you're-going-to-miss-the-cocktail-party..._"

Oh gosh, Hitsugaya blanched. No. They couldn't have-

"Toeshirow, please demonstrate the Summoning Charm for us!" Professor Flitwicks annoying high voice shook Hitsugaya out of his thoughts.

"Right." Hitsugaya gripped his wand and made some sort of weak jab. "Akkio!" The rock he was summoning suddenly blasted into tiny little pieces, knocking Professor Flitwick off his pile of books.

Oops.

Ron laughed, not out of spite, but happy that someone else was mediocre in spellwork. Harry grinned too. Hitsugaya was not amused.

Which is why he cast bakudou 1, _Sai_, on both Ron and Harry.

Hey, it was amusing seeing both frozen to their chairs. It was specially hilarious when Professor Flitwich gave them an extra load of homework, believing that Ron and Harry were being rude since they weren't lifting their wands and practicing.

---------------------

Transfiguration, Hitsugaya believed, was an interesting class. Changing one's shape was actually useful, not like trying to make things come to you. He had canceled the spell on Ron and Harry, which was why they came panting to the class, late.

"Sit down." McGonagall ordered them, making both mumble apologies and scamper to their seats. "You cannot pass an O.W.L. without some serious application, practice, and study. I see no reason why everybody in this class should not achieve an O.W.L. in Transfiguration as long as they put in the work."

_O.W.L.'s.._Hitsugaya mused, realizing that it spelled the word 'owl'. He would have to do something about those exams. In the most likely scenario, he would fail them. It really didn't matter, O.W.L's were not going to influence his shinigami days at Soul Society.

"Today we start on Vanishing Spells. These are easier than Conguring Spells, which you would not usually attempt until N.E.W.T. level, but they are still among the most difficult magic you will be tested on in your O.W.L."

The Vanishing Spell was disgustingly difficult. The only good thing was that Harry and Ron weren't laughing at anyone either, for they were as terrible at the spell as Hitsugaya was. Hermione was the only one who didn't receive homework from McGonagall that day.

Squishing his snail aggressively, Hitsugaya pushed it back into the box. The bell signaled the end of class causing chairs to scrape across the floor and students to rush out of the door. Hitsugaya allowed himself to be carried on through the tumult, wondering how he was going to finish his homework.

He stopped suddenly, a flare of reiatsu alerting his sense and sending shivers down his spine. It was of medium strength, located outside of the castle, and it tasted strongly of..

Arrancar.

_Finally_.

------------

_It's a blessing to be out of that clumsy gigai body_, Hitsugaya thought as rain dripped from the edges of his captain robe. After feeling that particular reiatsu pulse, Hitsugaya had swallowed a soul pill, instructed his gigai to go to the library (for lack of better place), and exited the castle.

It was slightly difficult at first, Hitsugaya had realized that strong enchantments blocked the doors of the castle. He wasn't a captain for nothing though and easily broke through them. _I have to ask for something to get me through that barrier or I'll be wasting precious time._

He sped over the expanse of wet green grass, ignoring a woman ushering small moving brown dots around a hut, and finally reached the outer fringe of the forest.

_The Forbidden Forest_. Hitsugaya was not afraid of a name. He shunpoed over the tops of the trees, his soles lightly brushing foliage. The reiatsu was growing larger and nearer. Finally Hitsugaya pinpointed the target and descended through leaves and branches.

The arrancar was hunched over, clutching something in his or her hand. It was a small sparrow. The arrancar obviously thought it was great fun ripping and crushing the bird to pieces.

Slightly revolted, Hitsugaya turned his attention away from the shrieking helpless animal. The bird let out one more piercing chirp then fell limp.

"Died already? So fragile." The arrancar muttered, rather disappointedly. "I'm bored." The voice indicated that the arrancar was a female.

"Bored already? So idiotic." Hitsugaya mimicked sarcastically. She whirled around in alarm.

A single amber eye was blinking spasmodically, her other eye was covered by a bleached grinning skull face reminiscent of a horse. Her bright red hair was in a medium-long braid, a gothic, spiked strap hanging around it. Her mouth was slightly open, caught between alarm and anger. She had the typical all white outfit that Aizen had so proudly designed, shorts and a vest.

She sputtered incoherently as Hitsugaya patiently waited. "You-you-how did you...why are you..." She shook herself in time. "That was pathetic shinigami." She snarled.

Hitsugaya raised a single white eyebrow. "What was pathetic? The way you reacted to my appearance?" The arrancar grumbled in response.

It was obvious that this arrancar was teetering on the weak side by way of her easy infuriation. Hitsugaya was a little disappointed. The arrancar didn't even have a zanpaktou on her.

During her rantings of "You stupid boy," and "Shut up you dumbas-" Hitsugaya wondered how his gigai was doing.

---------------

"Hiya Harry, Ron!" A bright chipper voice interuppted Ron and Harry's frantic homework progress. Both looked up, annoyed. They then froze, staring stupidly at the large smile stretched across Hitsugaya's face. It was the most muscle movement they had seen on his face since...actually never.

This Hitsugaya was strangely alien, he smiled again and gestured with both of his arms. "It's such a rainy day, but we can still play-pyon!"

Ron's mouth was slightly open, he was wondering what the _pyon_ was supposed to be. Harry only stared some more, did Hetsugellia just _rhyme_?

"Hey hey hey! I know a game! Let's play-!"

--------------------------

_I wonder why I feel a wave of nausea_. Hitsugaya pondered.

The arrancar girl had finally used up the extent of her cursing knowledge and noticed Hitsugaya's thoughtful face. _Here's my chance!_

"CE-" A numbing pressure suddenly came over her body, forcing her onto the ground.

"Too slow." Hitsugaya said, watching with disinterest at the still body. His reiatsu spiked to a couple of higher levels causing the arrancar to shudder and squeak.

"You...damn-"

The reiatsu increased and her skull mask cracked, shattering into pieces. The 10th squad captain crossed his arms, bored. "I'm sure that you are aware of the difference in power," He started. "Seeing as you haven't died yet, I'll take the liberty to ask some questions."

The arrancar writhed.

"Where are the Espada?"

Her whole form was trembling, but she managed to open her mouth. "Where else...Hueco..Mundo."

"Why were there signals of the Espada in Europe then?" He demanded. A large amount of choking and coughing answered him. "Don't know...what you're talking...about...Europe is of...no..interest to the...Espada."

Hitsugaya frowned. "Don't lie. Why would Aizen send the Espada to Europe, if it is of 'no interest' to them?"

That was the wrong move. At the mention of Aizen, the arrancar gave a furious scream. "Aizen-sama! You said I would find him here! Aizen-sama, you...LIAR!" She gave one final scream, flailed her limbs rather dramatically about, and her body went slack.

Displeased, Hitsugaya stepped towards the girl and nudged her with his sandal. She moved subtly, it was miniscule but Hitsugaya felt it. He wrenched her up by her braid and glanced at her coldly.

"Answer me."

The arrancar struggled weakly then gave up. "Aizen...lie...Ha-lee.."

A pause and the arrancar immediatly opened her jaw, a bright ball of red light forming on her tongue.

_Aw sh-_

------------

Harry watched, gaping as Hetsugellia did several cartwheels across the table. Ron, likewise, opened and closed his mouth mechanically. Harry wondered how large Hetsugellia's sugar intake was before dodging.

Hetsugellia smashed into the bookshelf behind him, large tomes falling and smacking Ron in the head (who yelped).

"Do something!" Ron said, placing his hands protectively in front of his face. "You do something!" Harry shouted back. Hetsugellia gave a high-pitched giggle and grabbed several of the fallen books. He then proceeded to _juggle_ them.

On instinct, Harry swiveled his head around to see if Madam Pince was crawling around. Ron gave a low-throated groan before trying to snatch the books back. Hetsugellia backflipped back while _still juggling_ (Harry wondered if he did acrobatic activities in his spare time) and gave another deranged laugh.

Grim, Harry pulled out his wand. There was no other way, but to use _Petrificus Totalus_. "Ron hold him!" Ron squacked something back ("I'd like to see you try!") and lunged for Hetsugellia's legs.

Who jumped out of the way in time.

However, stumbled and fell at the feet of Madam Pince.

She was livid, her eyes rolling, her teeth clenched, her sallow cheeks stretched taut. "_Never_ in my years have I seen such a display before in my _library_, GET OUT!"

Hetsugellia smiled.

Madam Pince responded by bewitching the books to attack Hetsugellia, Ron, and Harry as all three ran away for their dear life.

-------------

Hitsugaya dusted his coat off, looking disdainfully at the dead arrancar at the floor. "Like I said, you're too slow." He turned his head away from the decapitated body and processed on what he had just learned.

_"...Ha-lee..."_

That sounded strangely like Harry. But why would a lowly arrancar spontaneously spout out his name like that? Hitsugaya rolled his shoulders and shunpoed himself off the ground and back into the air.

He would think about it later.

Hitsugaya found his gigai lurking around the library ("Why in the world are you out here?" He asked), was told a bunch of lies, snatched his books, and ran from an irate Madam Pince.

It was his turn to be late for his next class, Care of Magical Creatures. He had rushed in the stupid slow gigai body towards the congregation of students near a small hut. Squeezing among the students, ignoring the grumbles, Hitsugaya reached the front of the crowd.

He found himself near Hermione, Harry, and Ron. The latter two visibly flinching and backing away from him. Hitsugaya wondered what he did to garner that much revulsion in the last hour.

"Everyone here? Let's crack on then-who can tell me what these things are called?" Professor Grubbly-Plank asked as the Gryffindors and Slytherins calmed down. Hermione raised her hand, Malfoy imitating her in a rather exaggerated way.

Hitsugaya's attention was wrenched away as, what he thought were twigs, the things on the table started moving. It looked like a brown fairy with a rather sharp, angular body. One of them flexed its sharp fingers threateningly and glared pointedly at Hitsugaya. _What did I do?_ Hitsugaya thought, annoyed.

"Oooh!" A pair of girls squealed. Their exclamation of joy was sharply cut off by Professor Grubbly-Plank, who ordered them to be quiet. She then dumped a handful of brown lice across the table, attracting the strange wood things (including the one who was looking malevontly at Hitsugaya).

Actually they weren't all that strange-looking. He was pretty sure that he had seen them before, like in that _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ book.

"So-anyone know the names of these creatures?"

Hitsugaya raised his hand.

Hermione was startled to see someone else actually _raise their hand_. She recovered quickly, however. Malfoy, although, seemed to have a permanent jaw fixture.

So did Harry and Ron.

Professor Grubbly-Plank looked a little disoriented, but managed to save face with a cough. "Yes," She consulted her student sheet. "Mr.Toushirou?"

"Bowtruckles. They're tree-guardians." He answered. The professor nodded her head, pleased. "Five points to Gryffindor. Yes, these are bowtruckles as Mr. Toushirou says, they generally live in trees whose wood is of wand-quality. Anybody know what they eat?"

This time Hermione beat Hitsugaya to the question. She answered correctly, gaining another five points for Gryffindor. Professor Grubbly-Plank assigned them all to study a single bowtruckle and create a chart of its features.

Hitsugaya realized that everyone had grouped together and that he was the only one alone. White hair really had a bad affect on his social skills. He sighed, attracting Professor Grubbly-Plank's attention. "No group eh Mr. Toushirou? You can join Miss Granger's."

Speculating on whether the rainy morning really did seem like a good omen, Hitsugaya grudgily approached the group.

"Dumbledore would know if something happened to Hagrid. It's just playing into Malfoy's hands to look worried, it tells him-" She broke off at once as Hitsugaya came near and blushed hard at realizing how obvious she was. Ron jumped and made room for Hitsugaya to enter the small circle, who replied with an aggravated look.

"...So even if that overgrown moron _does_ show up again, he'll probably be sent packing straight away." Malfoy's derisive voice came drifting over the group.

Seeing Harry's angry countenance, Hitsugaya nudged him. "Oy, let go of the bowtruckle." Harry, on a reflex, let go and the bowtruckle gave him a resentful look on almost being crushed.

"Thanks," He muttered back before remembering that he was supposed to bear grudge against Hitsugaya. Shutting his mouth defiantly, Harry ignored him.

_Fine, two can play this game_. Hitsugaya sketched one of the bowtruckles long limbs and labeled his drawing with quick, decisive strokes. He blocked out the thought of how idiotic he was being, stooping down to Harry's level. Ron and Hermione made no attempt at conversation and for the rest of the period there was silence in that small group.

After ushering their bowtruckle back to the table (in which Harry received a hefty cuff of revenge for handling it so brutally), they set out for Herbology. Hitsugaya bypassed the group, deliberately marching on.

"Harry, can you stop being such a git?" Hermione demanded, causing Harry to look at her, startled. "Me? A _git_?" He emphasized the word, a little offended. "Yes," Their shoes thudded over the vegetable patch and Hermione went on. "For one, stop attacking Ron and me whenever you're mad," She cut off his angry speech by raising her voice. "For another, stop being so angry at Hetsugellia. All he did was try and stop you from blowing up on that Umbridge woman, you know." Her tone ended on a reproachful note.

Harry grumbled and lapsed into silence.

While this conversation was taking place, Hitsugaya examined the greenhouse. Professor Sprout was a well-rounded witch with scraggly mouse-brown hair and a raggedy "witch's hat" perched precariously on her head. On upon seeing Hitsugaya enter the house, she singled him out and ordered him to pass out the large amounts of dragon dung to the students.

If "flinging bits of it to the giggling students", was passing it out then Hitsugaya was obeying orders. He flicked a rather large amount at Ron who snorted ungraciously at seeing Hitsugaya's angry expression.

An hour and a half later, Hitsugaya walked into the Great Hall feeling weary. He just managed to catch the conversation between Harry and another, furious girl. She wrung her hands at him, yelling about something about Quidditch tryouts..

Oh yeah.

Around five o'clock, Hitsugaya watched Harry leave the table and exit the hall. Inconspiciously, Hitsugaya abandoned his lamb chops and followed Harry at a distance behind.

If he was a bodyguard, for _goodness sakes_ he'll be a good one. No bodyguard would leave their charge to wander into an office of a crazed, asinine, dull, woman with the tendency to tack on belittling suffixes to her words.

Rummaging for the candy dispenser, Hitsugaya pressed the bunny's head and swallowed the candy. A peculiar sensation and he was standing regally with his captain coat floating in a nonexistent breeze. _Where did that breeze come from?_ Hitsugaya wondered, before catching sight of Harry turning the corner.

Hurriedly, he shunpoed off across the third floor. To his relief, Harry didn't notice the captain sneaking behind him. But then, he always had a rather light step.

They stopped. Harry hesitated before the door before knocking.

"Come in." Someone sing-songed.

Harry stepped in closely followed by Hitsugaya. Both wondered if they should step back out. The room had a heady aroma of perfume, scent _Tropical Flowers_, and a large collection of plates decorated the walls. They had huge neon-colored kittens plastered over the porcelain.

Tearing his smarting eyes away from the decorations, Hitsugaya studied the surroundings for Umbridge. She had blended in completely, her extravagant robe matched the tawdry desk. Her small beady eyes studied Harry (who was staring at one of the neon kittens) while her ringed fingers tapped silently against the cloth.

She startled Harry with a greeting while Hitsugaya settled himself comfortably against one of the pastel-colored walls. He observed Harry who sat down and seethed inwardly. His request to take Friday detention off was rejected (quite happily) by Umbridge.

"I want you to write '_I must not tell lies_," Umbridge said while handing a black, sharp quill to Harry.

"How many times?" Harry asked, gripping the quill.

"Oh, as long as it takes for the message to _sink in_," Umbridge replied, a nasty smile on her face.

Hitsugaya, suspicious, wondered where the ink Harry was supposed to write with was.

"You haven't given me any ink," Harry said a moment later, voicing Hitsugaya's question. Umbridge smirked and leaned forward. "Oh, you won't need any ink."

Harry shrugged and traced the words "I must not tell lies" on the paper.

-----

_Cliffie. Don't kill me please. I'm not sure on whether to make Hitsugaya react violently or to just chuck Umbridge out the window. The latter seems tempting. _


	8. One Sided

**The Muggle with White Hair**

**NOTE**: _I am no way copying any other BLEACHHP fics out there. Have fun reading, eating, flaming, criticizing! Also, this story takes place during the Order of the Phoenix arc._

Chapter 8 One-Sided

First an _I_.

A curled, swooping "I" was written by the point of the black, sharp quill.

At the same time another "I" was suddenly engraved in the back of Harry's right hand...

Hitsugaya froze, alert.

Second an _M_.

Written on parchment and carved into Harry's hand.

_What the-_

Three things raced across Hitsugaya's mind. One, Harry was in danger. Two, by way of Umbridge's nasty smile playing on her lips she had done this on purpose. Three, that quill had to go.

_Hadou 54: Haien_.

This particular demon art was used to incinerate objects. _Appropriate for this occasion_, Hitsugaya thought.

Harry cursed as the ash burned his skin, giving a nasty twinge over his cuts. Did the quill just _explode_ on him??

Whereas Umbridge's reaction was a piercing shriek. "Wh-what? The quill-how?" She stammered, gripping her desk. After a few more seconds of inarticulate mumbling, she narrowed her eyes. "What did you do Mr. Potter?"

He opened his mouth in response, could she be more unfair? "I didn't do anything Professor Umbridge," He said defensively. "The quill just blew up."

Her eyes contracted even tighter. "So objects just spontaneously combust whenever you're near them, eh Mr. Potter?" Her tone was dripping sarcasm. "Another few days of detention for lying and having such a nasty temper."

Hitsugaya wondered if blowing up the quill was such a good idea after all...

"Nasty temper?" Harry demanded angrily. _What part was that stupid discharge connected to his self-control?_ Umbridge sneered. "Careless control of your emotions has lead to the destruction of my property. I think detention is a way to cure that."

Harry felt the blood surge to his head. _Evil, unfair, psychotic-_

"Continue writing your lines." She leaned back, folding her ringed fingers. "What's wrong Mr. Potter? Do you have any...complaints?"

Hitsugaya willed Harry to sit down and shut up. Thankfully Harry did just that, digging in his own bag for a writing utensil and ink.

It was well over midnight when Harry finished his detention. Grateful, Hitsugaya followed him out of Umbridge's office.

Not bothering to chase after Harry (who was running down the corridor), Hitsugaya instead walked in the opposite direction.

Dumbledore would like to know about this.

--------------------

"Let me in." Hitsugaya said forcefully, his left eyelid twitching sporadically.

A grotesque looking sculpture stuck out its stone tongue and blew a raspberry.

"What's the password, huh, _granddad_?"

Aggravated, Hitsugaya crossed his arms. "I don't need a password to get in."

The gargoyle laughed condescendingly. "Everyone needs a password. Either tell me or sod off."

"You-" Hitsugaya began heatedly only to be suddenly cut off.

"Mr. Toushirou?" Hitsugaya turned to see Dumbledore himself, with a benevolent and an amused expression on his face. Embarrassed at being caught in an argument with an inanimate object, Hitsugaya gave a grunt.

"Do you request a meeting with me?" Dumbledore asked again, a little gently. Hitsugaya nodded stiffly. Dumbledore smiled and faced the statue squarely. "Ice Mice."

The gargoyle grinned and leaped aside, revealing a familiar stone staircase. Both clambered on (Hitsugaya remembering not to be surprised at the sudden movement) and were rotated slowly to the front of the door.

It opened, Dumbledore sweeping in first with his long velvet cloak, Hitsugaya stepping in cautiously after. The portraits were still there, the people had distinct ruffled looks as if jerked from their slumber. The strange instruments were still puffing out smoke, attracting Hitsugaya once again. And that magnificent scarlet phoenix...

"So Mr. Toushirou, what do you need?" During Hitsugaya's survey, Dumbledore had retreated to his desk and was now peering over his glasses with a slight, owlish look.

Hitsugaya tore his eyes away from Fawkes. "I'm sure that you know about Harry's detention with Umbridge?"

"_Professor_ Umbridge, Mr. Toushirou."

He blinked. Was he _corrected _just now? "Ah. I followed Harry to _Professor_ Umbridge's office. She gave him a strange quill that required no ink, but instead used Harry's own blood to write his lines."

Dumbledore did not react violently, nor did he stutter in shock (unlike Umbridge and Harry). Instead, he looked away from Hitsugaya. He looked..._sad_.

"A blood quill??!" Cried an outraged voice from the painting to Hitsugaya's left. "Disgusting! There were no Dark objects being carried by the faculty in my days!" Cried a woman who was thumping a rather thick cane on the frame of the picture.

"Clearly this woman needs to know the rules of Hogwarts!" This time a reedy, frail man spoke out. Similar shouts and accusations started pouring from the paintings.

Dumbledore shifted, silencing them all. Hitsugaya did not move his eyes, concentrating on the headmaster. "Dark objects?"

"Objects that are associated with the Dark Arts." Dumbledore explained, his age lines ever more prominent on his forehead. Hitsugaya waited for him to say something, perhaps order some more bodyguard time or some more descriptions, but he was disappointed.

The headmaster had no inclinations to start a conversation.

"I'll continue watching over Harry." Hitsugaya finally said, breaking the tepid quietness. "No." Dumbledore said, heaving a great sigh. "You have your own mission to attend to; there is no need to accompany Harry to his detentions anymore." He lifted his eyes, a satisfied glint in his eyes. "I assume that you took care of the problem with the blood quill?"

Hitsugaya remembered a bright flashing light and a smell of soot. _How on earth did this man know_? "Yes." He said curtly. "If you could watch over Harry when he makes his nightly...escapades, I would be most grateful." Dumbledore requested.

"Nightly escapades?"

"Harry and his friends are known to prowl around Hogwarts at night."

"Why? Doesn't he know that his life is in danger?"

"He does, but remember, Harry is a teenager. All teenagers are reckless and daring."

"I don't think he knows all the danger." Hitsugaya said, watching Dumbledore closely. "Otherwise he would be in bed."

"No child likes to be cooped up, Mr. Toushirou."

"I wouldn't know, I'm past the adolescent mark."

Dumbledore observed him closely. "How, pardon me for asking, old are you, Mr. Toushirou?"

"...140 years old. A great contrast to 17."

"There are more similarities than you are aware of."

Twitch. Time for a subject change. "Harry needs to be reeled in. He lost his temper with Umbridge in class. A one-on-one talk with the headmaster will do him some good."

The headmaster himself frowned softly. "I...am far too busy to talk with Harry. Our relationship now is rather strained." He said evasively.

The man was keeping something from him. Hitsugaya thought annoyed. He disliked one-sided deals.

The child prodigy suppressed a retort and nodded. "Then, if you want Harry to lose all his House points..." Hitsugaya turned to exit the room, but paused.

"Soul Society...has asked for your full cooperation. If we do not receive satisfactory," Hitsugaya worded it carefully. "Information, then I'm afraid that I will withdraw my bodyguard duties." Another pause, nodding, and then he left the room.

Dumbledore merely stared after his wake before turning his attention to Fawkes.

"Nasty piece of work there." A nasally voice said, Phineas Nigellus rested against his colored background. "That child could do with a good whipping."

"That child is exceptionally sharp and bright."

"More like snot-nosed."

---------------------

Next time he was propelled over a foreign country, Hitsugaya would request a gigai that _didn't_ have insomnia.

Panicking (only a little!), Hitsugaya practiced Vanishing Spells on random objects ("Where's my book?"), cobbled together some dreams, and wolfed down his toast.

Totally undignified.

However, he didn't want _more_ homework, might as well pathetically attempt at it.

During the course of the day, Hitsugaya realized that his gigai, while being unable to sleep last night, was now making up for it in the classes. Twice, (in two classes), he was jerked awake and made an example of. He was too tired even to exact revenge on the brats who had laughed at him.

Finally the day was drawing to a close, Hitsugaya was extremely relieved. His face almost landed in his steak-and-kidney pie, he was _that_ weary.

"I'm not impressed by your attitude Potter! The Quidditch team actually appreciates members that _show up for events_!"

"It's not-"

"No excuses Potter. You're either there or not. It'll-"

Hitsugaya swiveled his head in the direction of screaming and roared at the shouting girl to shut up.

"Bug off! This doesn't concern you!" She yelled back.

She was the one with the voice that was annoyingly echoing in his skull. _I'll say that concerns me_! "It wasn't Harry's choice to get detention from Umbridge so stop wailing about it."

The girl opened her mouth a couple of times before striding off indignantly.

Harry turned to Hitsugaya. "Thanks," He said, resentfully. "I don't accept fake gratitude." Hitsugaya said, back to his colder-than-ice tone.

His charge scowled, but hesitated. "Oy, I'm sorry for getting all mad at you before." Harry mumbled, shamefacedly.

Hitsugaya grunted. "Apology accepted."

Harry turned to go.

"You need help on your Potions essay?"

"Huh?" Harry asked, stupefied.

"I don't like repeating myself." Hitsugaya said, trying hard not to be snappish. "I'm merely asking if you need help completing that essay and if you want me to do it."

Gaping, Harry swallowed. "Really?" He asked weakly.

"I'll plan the outline." Hitsugaya replied, uncomfortable by Harry's shining grateful face. "You'll have to do the actual writing."

A little deflated, Harry slumped, but still nodded energetically. "Thanks, I owe you one."

_You sure do._

------------------

Hitsugaya adjusted the outline a little away from him before starting on his own homework. He was in the midst of writing the third sentence before being cuffed in the back of the head.

"Oy oy, titchy!"

He grabbed the offending arm and wrenched it quite nastily. A yelp and the appendage was retrieved. The limb belonged to...

The clones.

_Great_.

Fred and George gave identical smirks. "Want to try the Fainting Fancies?" Fred asked, holding up a small purplish sweet.

"No."

"You sure? It's a one-time deal; you get a discount with your next purchase too."

"I don't care. I'm not trying your products." Hitsugaya snapped, turning back to his homework. Before, Fred and George could try and coerce him again they were interrupted by the same, screaming girl in the Great Hall.

"Fred, George! Do you have the list for the Keeper tryouts?"

"I'm not George, he is."

"I'm not Fred, he is."

"I could care less." The girl emphasized. "Do you have the bloody sheet or not?"

"Angelina that was your responsibility."

"Quite so, we didn't lose it because we didn't have it!"

"Hang on, wasn't that piece of parchment in your bag, the sheet?"

"What, the one I chucked at Umbridge?"

"Angelina" followed this conversation, her face growing steadily redder. "You have got to be kidding me! You know how long it took me to-"

George backed away from her. "We'll pin up a new one on the board."

Fred nodded adamantly. "Don't blow a vessel Angelina."

She shrieked in their faces, a side-effect of stress from the N.E.W.T.S., and stalked off. Fred and George stayed true to their word, hastily scribbling Gryffindor Quidditch Keeper Tryouts on Friday on the top, and pinning it to the board.

They admired the fact that it blocked several other posters then returned to Hitsugaya.

"Hey granddad, did you ever think of trying out for Quidditch?"

"You should! With your hair and vertically challenged height, you'll be a hit with the fans!"

Hitsugaya then proceeded too respond with his coldest glare yet. "Call me short again and I will-" he reverted to Japanese angrily. No effect since it sounded like gibberish to Fred and George.

Slamming down a small note (FOR HARRY) on the parchment, Hitsugaya shouldered past the twins and marched away to the dormitories.

"You catch that last bit Fred?"

"Not at all George." The copy responded. He suddenly grinned.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Probably." Fred smirked evilly and grabbed a quill.

----------------------

Ron hesitated, staring at the keeper try-out sheet.

"Look at this!"

Harry glanced at the sheet, becoming startled.

"How come Hitsugaya signed up too?"

-------------------------------

_I finished this at 3:27 am because of a certain reviewer's demands to update. Thanks 2stupid! JKJK. I was trying to finish this anyway. Pretty short chapter though, I AM CONKED! NIGHTIES!_


	9. Keeper Tryouts

**The Muggle with White Hair**

**NOTE**: _I am no way copying any other BLEACHHP fics out there. Have fun reading, eating, flaming, criticizing! Also, this story takes place during the Order of the Phoenix arc._

_In response to kinichi, I'm sorry but this fanfic will not have a sole HitsuMatsu pairing. I don't hate that pairing, I certainly like it better than HitsuHina! (Dodges tomatoes from the fandom), but I'm not that great in romance. Plus, I like HermionexRon (but none of that will be in this story) Apologizing yet again, FireyFlames._

Chapter 9: Keeper Tryouts

It was raining. Again.

Hitsugaya still liked the rain despite his harrowing day yesterday.

He just hated sloshing through it.

Despite Harry's continued detentions, Hitsugaya did not attend. Dumbledore had said he didn't have to, so he'll desist. Yet, Hitsugaya could not help but feel nervous when Harry entered Umbridge's office. Knowing that old bat, she probably had a whole stockful of those quills.

_It doesn't matter_, Hitsugaya reminded himself again. _I doubt that she'll try and murder Harry_. With that small reassuring thought, he left to go to the library.

On approaching the library, Madam Pince hissed and lifted her wand threateningly. Hitsugaya knew a warning sign when he saw one (even though he didn't know what he did to gain expulsion from the library). He quickly diverted his path (dodging a stray parchment that whizzed towards his face) and marched down a random corridor.

Where he ended up face to face with George.

Or was it Fred?

_Whatever_.

Gred suddenly gave a rather alarming grin, grabbing Hitsugaya's shoulders. "Why, 'ello old pal!"

Hitsugaya squirmed. "I'm not your pal." He muttered vehemently, while trying to break Gred's firm grip. In response, Gred adopted an injured look. "Don't say that mate. Besides, we've been through lots with each other."

_Just stop touching me!_ "Nevermind what your puny little mind says, " Hitsugaya said cooly. Gred gave a toothy smile. "Denial!" He said a bit too loudly, dragging Hitsugaya along the hallway. "It weakens the best of friendships."

"Where are you taking me?" The white-haired child demanded as he was towed unwillingly through the front entrance of the castle. His only answer was a muffled snicker. Enough of this stupid behavior, Hitsugaya wrenched himself away from Gred's grip.

"Answer me."

"I only want you to come and see the Quidditch pratice. Don't throw a fit." Gred said, pulling his face in a threadbare attempt to look innocent. It was the sort of expression Matsumoto would throw when she skipped out on duties. Hitsugaya knew better than to trust that look. However...

"Quidditch?" He asked, interest piqued. Gred nodded vigorously. "A good spot of Quidditch is what a tiny little chit like you needs."

Gred quickly amended himself on upon seeing Hitsugaya's furious face. "I mean, tall chit."

_"..."_

Renewing his grip on Hitsugaya's shoulder, Gred quickly grabbed him before he could run away. Hitsugaya had half the mind to Byakurai Gred, before relenting. He didn't want to be charged with child abuse.

**You mean you don't want to miss seeing this 'Wuidditch' sport.**

_I could care less. And it's not Wuidditch it's Quidditch_.

**Right.** Hyouinmaru replied with an amused laugh, much like the sound of hail cascading on glass.

---------------------------

Hitsugaya observed a large group of hopeful-looking students file into the stadium. The field was long and wide, there were hundreds of raised seats surrounding the perimeter, and three tall golden hoops punctuated both ends.

He, himself, was sitting on the ground, back comfortably resting against the wall of the arena. Gred had left him to meet with his identical twin brother (Forge) and both had trooped into a small opening, along with others. _The team_, Hitsugaya mused.

Amid his thoughts, both twins came out, spotted him, and ran. One of them was carrying a tatty-conditioned broom.

"Heksu!" The left one called out.

Hitsugaya felt his forehead grow hot. _Another variation?_

The clones reached him and dropped the broom at Hitsugaya's feet. _Was this some sort of Quidditch greeting?_ He pondered irritably.

"Get on it!" Gred sang, looking wicked.

During Divination class, Ron and Harry had explained the game to Hitsugaya. They introduced the rules and finer points of the game, but never mentioned..._brooms_. (This is because Ron and Harry know the game so well that they immediatly assume that others know it too.)

Forge picked up the wooden stick and waved it. "You're obviously confused." He stated. "All you have to do is ride it, like so-" Forge squatted down with the broom.

"You want me to ride that household appliance?" Hitsugaya asked disbelievingly. No way was he going to clutch _anything_ in between his legs. It seemed that Forge and Gred expected him to do just that since they shoved the broom into Hitsugaya's hands. "C'mon, don't back out." Forge said, sniggering.

"I refuse." Hitsugaya said in clipped tones, pushing the broom back. "Besides, I fail to see when I even agreed to sit on a wooden stick."

Gred muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "You've got a wooden stick up your as-", but Forge merely smiled again. "Did you forget Heksu? I mean, you even signed up!"

Hitsugaya gaped while Forge twisted back and called out, "Angelina!!!". She came towards them, looking harassed. "_What_?" She snapped.

Forge looked unfazed. "This bloke won't sit on the broom even though he signed up for tryouts." Gred nodded likewise. "He's being a downright stubborn git."

Angelina frowned and glared at Hitsugaya. She seemed to recognize him, because her lips went into a sneer. "If you can't even ride the broom, then don't bother trying out for Keeper. We don't need people with fragile buttocks on the team."

**Need some ice for that burn, Toushirou?** The strange sound of hail sounded again.

Growing red, Hitsugaya snatched the broom. "I never said I wouldn't do it." He lied while throwing a scathing look at the twins. He turned away and stalked towards the line.

With each step, he grew more infuriated. He had _never_ put his name on that stupid sign-up sheet. They didn't have the right to laugh at him and force him to do stupid wizard things! He should've known better than to follow that stupid red-haired boy..

_And I don't have fragile buttocks_.

Feeling his body vibrate with anger, he sullenly stood in line (which was even more humiliating, having to stand in _line_).

"Hetsugellia!" Someone said joyfully, thumping the mentioned person on the arm. Hitsugaya turned and directed a most loathsome glare at-

Ron.

Whoops.

Ron had immediatly backed down at seeing Hitsugaya's foul mood. Embarrassed, he scratched his flame hair. Hitsugaya, with some difficulty, managed to have a somewhat passable expression on his face. "Hello Ron." He managed to say.

Smiling uncertainly, Ron gestured at the line. "Loads came out, huh?" Hitsugaya paused and nodded, agreeing. "I didn't even want to come here." He said, still in the effort-to-be-friendly mode.

Ron blinked. "Really? How come you signed up?"

Hitsugaya whirled around. "I did not sign up." He growled. Ron looked confused and a little scared. "Then why was your name on the sign-up sheet?"

He felt as if someone just bludgeoned his diaphragm. Trying hard to breathe, Hitsugaya snarled, about to yell at Ron for being so idiotic, when the Weasley twins came by.

"Looking forward to your tryout Prefect!" One of them said condescendingly to which Ron replied with a rude gesture.

"You too midget!" The other said, striding off and laughing.

The temperature plunged rather dangerously, a few violent winds blowing causing one of the kids who was trying out to squeak and crash into the ground.

Hitsugaya's reiatsu was actually filtering from his gigai. He was _that_ mad. Hyouinmaru was filling his chest with fury and Hitsugaya was tempted to obey his zanpaktou in freezing the asses off the Weasley twins.

Feeling this sudden malevolent aura, Ron stepped back. "Err, Hetsugellia? You okay, mate?" Hesitatingly, he placed a hand on Hitsugaya's shoulder.

A freezing chill entered his fingertips and ran through his body. Ron winced horribly and shook his fingers frantically. Thankfully, Hitsugaya realized the impact he was having on the weather and suppressed his reiatsu.

"Sorry," Hitsugaya mumbled leaving Ron wondering on whether he was sorry for giving him frostbite or not answering his question...

"Next!" Angelina barked over the field as the dazed child limped off. Hitsugaya grudgingly stepped forward at Ron's nudge. He lifted his head higher on upon seeing Fred and George grinning and Angelina aiming nasty smiles. _I won't let them catch me being a fool._ He thought grimly.

Running hands over the pockmarked wood, Hitsugaya positioned the broom in between his legs, and _squatted_.

A distinct chuckle could be heard as Hitsugaya waited impatiently for the magic to work. Feeling more embarrased than ever, he kicked the ground in frustration.

And was aloft.

He hovered in the air, still shocked.

"Move! Don't just fly there!" Angelina shouted.

Ignoring her demands, Hitsugaya tried out the controls. He tilted to the left, shooting in that direction. Methodically, he repeated the process with the right.

_How do you go forward?_ He wondered. A pause and he hunched over, his fingers gripping the handle. The broom shot forward as his weight shifted. Pleased at his progress, Hitsugaya circled the arena enjoying the rush of winds that ruffled his white hair.

"Are you done yet?" Angelina yelled, aggravated. "Hurry up and take your position!"

Hitsugaya obliged, flying towards the goal posts. He did a sharp round-about and faced another Gryffindor girl, Katie or something of the other.

She was clutching a large red ball, the Quaffle, and was obviously waiting for permission to start. Her eyes turned towards Angelina who nodded sharply and blew the whistle.

Hitsugaya felt his leg muscles tense, which was sort of hard since it was an entirely new set of leg muscles. _Am I just supposed to smack the ball away?_ He had a few seconds to think before Katie threw the Quaffle.

Instinctively, he darted forward, one arm stretched to grab the ball. Because of Hitsugaya's born ability to be freaking good at all sports he played, he caught it easily and threw it back at Katie's awestruck face.

This repeated for several times, Hitsugaya was becoming more used to the sport, and foiled Katie's attempts to throw the Quaffle into the goals.

"He's not so bad for a shortie." Fred commented, his beater bat resting on his shoulder.

"That's because he hasn't received a bludger." George replied, flying lazily in the air.

Both twins grinned and readied their bats.

As he threw the ball back for the tenth time, Hitsugaya spontaneously looked over his shoulder as Katie fumbled the ball.

He saw a large black spherical object hurtling towards him, a loud high keening noise emitting from it, intent on destroying everything in it's path.

_The he-_?

Trying to avoid the rather dangerous inanimate thing, Hitsugaya flew downwards and dodged the Bludger.

George, who was conveniently standing on the opposite side, slammed it back.

Two things ran through Hitsugaya's mind as the Bludger came gleefully towards him. One, he had to dodge this or risk filling out forms for a gigai replacement. Two, he had to dodge that stupid ball AND intercept the Quaffle that Katie was getting ready to throw.

Anyone else in that situation would scream, wring their hands, and take flight at once. Anyone else that is...

Hitsugaya caught the Quaffle and flipped over horizontally, letting the Bludger zip past. If slow motioned, one could see the gaping Weasley twin brothers, the put-out Katie, Angelina's whistle hanging dumbly from her mouth, and Ron looking admiringly and resentfully as Hitsugaya issued the perfect Quidditch move.

He didn't notice any of these details. Hitsugaya concentrated solely on not falling off his broom and clutched the Quaffle harder under his arm. Finishing his flip, he threw the ball back at Katie. "Finished?" He asked in a tone that went under people's skins without meaning to.

She grumbled in response and was suddenly cut off mid-throw by Angelina's whistle.

"Next!"

The white-haired child prodigy tossed the ball to Katie and alighted down to the ground. He was immediatly accosted by Angelina.

"You're really good for a Quidditch newbie." She managed to say in a somewhat normal tone. "You even demonstrated the Sloth Grip Roll!"

"The what?" Hitsugaya asked.

Angelina plowed onward, ignoring his question. "Congratulations, you've qualified for the Keeper position." She exclaimed, beaming.

"How about the rest of the tryouts?" Hitsugaya felt a little uncomfortable with Ron's efforts to eavesdrop into the conversation. He could just imagine the boy's crestfallen look on missing the chance to be Keeper and not even trying out for it.

"Doesn't matter anymore, does it Fred?" George had landed on the grass behind Hitsugaya. His twin copied his actions and nodded fervently.

Frowning, Hitsugaya glared at them both. "I don't think it's particularly fair to dismiss the rest of them." Angelina dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "It's okay, they'll understand."

Doubting her words, Hitsugaya looked at Angelina to the smiling clones.

"I'm rejecting the position."

He again looked at the aghast Angelina and the shocked clones.

"B-but, why?" She sputtered, snatching the front of Hitsugaya's robes in a delirious fit. Likewise the twins pounced on him, demanding similar things.

Annoyed, he brushed off their fingers. "Because, one, I never signed up for Quidditch in the first place." Cue the furious look at Fred and George. "Two, I don't have the time." Which was true, he was there to chase after the Espada not play some stupid children's game. "Three, I don't want to make enemies of all the people who are still waiting for their turn."

During his speech, Hitsugaya had started backing away. "And fourth," Their eyes were getting bigger and rounder. "I have fragile buttocks."

With this last vengeful remark he turned and walked away, leaving a gaping Angelina and a gob smacked set of twins after him

_Pretty short this time. I've had loads of HW!! again, plus a research paper to do. The next chapter will be up by Saturday, (hopefully). I give my utmost thanks to all my faithful reviewers, all my story alerters, all my story-favoriters, and all of my author-favoriters. Thanks again, and I'll try my best to keep on updating!_


	10. ORDER?

**The Muggle with White Hair**

**NOTE**: _I am no way copying any other BLEACHHP fics out there. Have fun reading, eating, flaming, criticizing! Also, this story takes place during the Order of the Phoenix arc._

Chapter 10: ORDER?

Harry gulped down the pleasantly flavored-liquid of his butterbeer, enjoying the sensation running through his tongue. The back of his right hand still stung viciously and the butterbeer helped distract him from the pain. Placing the goblet back down on the table, he was immediately accosted by-

Angelina.

Feeling trepidation, Harry faced the girl with an uneasy smile.

"Sorry I was a bit short with you earlier, Potter. It's stressful, this managing lark, you know, I'm starting to think I was a bit hard on Wood sometimes." Here she stopped, her eyes narrowed on Ron.

"Look, I know he's your best mate, but he's not fabulous." She commented abruptly. "I think with a bit of training he'll be all right, though. He comes from a family of good Quidditch players." Angelina trailed off again, her eyes taking on a slight maniac glint. "But, that foreign bloke on the other hand.."

Harry paused, his hand fixed around his goblet. "Sorry?" He asked, wondering if Angelina had possibly developed a girl-crush on a certain someone...

"You know, Heksu, or something of the other. He has real talent!" She started demonstrating with her goblet, sloshing butterbeer everywhere. "He flew better than everyone throughout the whole tryouts, his instincts are superb! Heksu was a shoo-in for Keeper."

_Nevermind, _Harry thought, while remembering a time when Hetsugellia did five cartwheels in a row. Perhaps that contributed to his athletic success. "Why didn't he become Keeper then?" He asked, careful not to attract Ron's attention.

Angelina scowle as if it was the worst question asked. "He wouldn't take the damn position." As if not wanting to relive that memory, she went back for a second gobletful of butterbeer.

_Didn't take the position? Then why did Hetsugellia try out in the first place?_ Harry wondered before retreating towards Hermione.

----------

In order to dodge various members of the Quidditch team (Katie, Fred, George, etc.), Hitsugaya decided to take a long detour. He would meet the occasional student, but never made an effort to talk with them. Making friends with mortals was idiotic since they always forgot you in the end..

Except in the case of high spiritual reiatsu, but then no one had any amazingly high levels. Amid his ramblings, Hitsugaya bumped into a large silvery patch of air.

A plus spirit.

The House ghost was startled at seeing him, however immediately recovered. "Hello," Nearly Headless Nick said cheerfully. "What are you doing so late here in the corridors?"

Hitsugaya looked at the European ghost with the abnormous large ruff on his neck, obscuring the long thin scar. "I'm walking to the common room."

"Not Slytherin I suppose?" Nick asked sharply, his eyes focusing on Hitsugaya's white hair.

"Gryffindor." He corrected in return, impatient for the ghost to stop talking.

"Ah, so sorry." Nick regained his cheerful behavior. "I must say, you look just like that portrait of Salazar Slytherin. Same green eyes, white hair, deep scowl...surely you're not one of his descendants?" His tone hovered, curiousity showing in his eyes.

_Me? A descendant of some random English man?_ "You're mistaken." Hitsugaya said stiffly. "I'm not even of European descent, it's impossible that I'm related to him." He dipped his head and brushed past the ghost.

"You never know, one always finds something surprising in Hogwarts." Nick called after him gaily, and went whistling off.

_Crazy old man._ Hitsugaya thought disdainfully then turned around the corner.

------------------

The silver cell phone's shiny exterior glittered as it was flipped open. Hitsugaya gave a long sigh as the screen went dead. _No reception...stupid, ugly, wizard castle_. He pocketed the machine and continued on his way to the Owlery.

Last night had taken it's toll on the gigai body. He knew he shouldn't have taken to wandering off in Hogwarts especially since he was accidentally locked in a supply closet. Seeing Filch's startled face when he opened the door was priceless and Hitsugaya felt satisfied when he knocked Filch out with a paralyzation spell.

Including that stupid cat who was yowling around the place.

A sudden large bust of a square-faced man dropped from above, hurtling towards Hitsugaya. He jumped out of the way in time, but was smacked in the head by-

"Peeves!" He snarled.

The poltergeist responded with a raspberry and gave a high-pitched cackle. "What are you doing up so early? Eh granddad? Didn't get enough sleep in that closet last night?"

Hitsugaya twitched. "So it was _you_ who locked me in."

Peeves laughed. "That's me!" He gleefully confirmed before taking aim with the statue again. Wanting to deal out just desserts, Hitsugaya pulled out his candy dispenser.

He was doing the castle a favor, really. One less stupid brat hanging around the place.

**That man told us not to use soul burial.**

_That thing doesn't count._

**Oh really?**

Grudgingly, Hitsugaya put the dispenser back under his robes and turned away. Sidestepping the bust once again, he started running.

He need just the place to get a signal for his phone.

Trekking across moving stairs, murderous suits of armor, and jeering paintings, Hitsugaya finally reached the final step of the topmost tower. Catching his breath, he pushed the door open.

A scene with a dumbfounded Harry and a blushing Cho Chang met his eyes. They both had startled expressions on their faces.

_Oh great._ Suddenly feeling hot around the neck, Hitsugaya slunk into the vast, capacious room where a multitude of owls roosted. He didn't want to know what _they_ were doing before he came in. Goodness, it was embarrassing to think that he, captain of the 10th division, interuppted an adolescent moment!

"Uh, hi Hetsugellia." Harry said, bouncing back. "What are you doing in the Owlery?" Cho Chang went back to busily tying her package around an owl's leg, her long black hair hiding her face.

Hitsugaya eluded a pile of owl droppings and drew nearer to the large glass-less windows. "Reception." He said briefly, letting light bounce off his cellphone's surface. Promptly turning away, he flipped the cover back up and punched in the numbers.

"I thought electronics didn't work at Hogwarts." Cho Chang mentioned hesitatingly. She shrinked under Hitsugaya's glance. "Err, that is, they're not supposed too.."

Mentally rolling his eyes over Cho Chang's bashful mutterings, Hitsugaya pressed the phone to his ear. "This one isn't any electronic." He didn't elaborate on explaining.

Harry threw a quick look at Cho's face. She clearly thought that Hetsugellia was some misanthropic, eremitic, foreigner. She also probably concluded that he was downright cold.

It was a good thing that Hitsugaya wasn't looking at her face.

A trying moment of silence, including Harry's shuffled feet movements, Cho Chang sending the owl, and Hitsugaya's impatient mutterings. Strangely, Harry could not discern what Hitsugaya was talking about, another language no doubt.

They both silently agreed on not bothering him, since his face was growing quite an interesting shade of red, and left the Owlery together.

Cho Chang stumbled as Hitsugaya cursed loudly. At least Harry thought it was cursing. It sounded like...maut-suuu-maut-toe...

-----------------------

"Hey Hetsugellia! Over here!" Ron shouted, waving his hands about as the aforementioned boy stepped into the Great Hall. He looked agitated, but a little pleased at the same time. Hitsugaya wove through the crowds and sat near the grinning Weasley boy.

On upon becoming Keeper, Ron had some sort of mixed up fantasy that he had cheated Hetsugellia of the position. To compensate that, Ron was trying to be as friendly as possible, while also trying to smooth ruffled feelings (nonexistent ones).

Hermione gave a greeting and Harry muttered a quiet "Hey." as Hitsugaya sat down. The atmostphere was a little tense and uncomfortable, Ron not noticing of course as he piled sausages onto his plate.

The daily owls came in, one depositing a familiar soggy roll of paper near Hermione. She paid the owl and it flew off.

_Soul Society really does have it much easier..._

"Anything interesting?" Ron asked. Hermione sighed as she analyzed the front of the paper. "No, just some guff about the bass player in the Weird Sisters getting married..."

Hitsugaya assumed that was a boring topic since Harry went back to stabbing his bacon and Ron glanced at the overhead sky.

"Wait a moment," Hermione said unexpectedly. "Oh no...Sirius!"

Harry's response was to tear the paper in half by accident.

_Well that was an overreaction._ Hitsugaya thought, spooning bits of newspaper off his porridge. He listened in to the conversation carefully.

"_Is currently hiding in London!_" Hermione gasped again, her eyes running over the bold print.

"Lucius Malfoy, I'll bet anything. He did recognize Sirius on the platform..." Harry exclaimed angrily, piece of bacon forgotten.

"What?" You don't say--" Ron sputtered, aghast.

"Shh!" Was his reponse.

"_Broke out of Azkaban_...the usual rubbish." The paper was slapped back down at the table, Hermione looking worried over it. "Well, he just won't be able to leave the house again, that's all. Dumbledore did warn him not to."

Hitsugaya's ears pricked. It was laughable, how these kids didn't realize that he was hearing each and every word. _No need to remind them_.

"Sturgis Podmore? He's that bloke who looks like his head's been thatched, isn't he? He's one of the Ord-"

Hermione shushed Ron mid-sentence.

It was at that moment that all three swiftly looked at Hitsugaya.

He raised an eyebrow. "Do continue." Yawning inside stirred his porridge. "I suggest that you speak in a lower volume when talking about the Order."

They ogled him, mouths open approximately 5 inches in diameter.

**You're enjoying this.**

_So are you_.

"You know about the Order?!" Ron shouted, commanding the attention of others around them. Harry smacked him and Ron sunk back down to his seat, his ears scarlet.

Hitsugaya sighed. "Yes I do." His voice dropped. "I'm sure that Dumbledore would appreciate it if you stop talking about it so breezily everywhere you please." Dismissing their gasps, he turned directly to Hermione.

"Have you started your essay on Self-Fertilizing Shrubs?"

-------------

The Shinigami Women's Association was usually started by an opening speech by Nanao, interrupted by Yachiru, stalled by Matsumoto, and concluded as the rest of the members adjourned.

This women's club, however, was only in the middle of it's stage. Meaning, Matsumoto was lingering and loitering.

"Gah, I'm so bored!" She whined, flipping through the newest issue of Soul Society: Life and lethargically tracing the bright colored pictures.

Nanao responded with a freezing look. "Before you so rudely interuppted me, Rangiku-san," She glared at the strawberry-blonde before returning to the drowy audience.

"Does everyone have an idea for a place to spend this year's vacation?"

Isane raised her hand. "Ano, shouldn't we concentrate on assembling for the Arrancar invasion? I don't think we have time to take an annual vacation."

Kiyone nodded fervently. "I need to stay and help Ukitake-taichou for his work! I can't afford to take a break!"

The quiet, purple-haired Kurotsuchi Nemu raised her hand also. "I must help Mayuri-sama." She said simply before returning to silence.

Adjusting her square-rimmed glasses, Nanao sighed. "Alright, I guess it was foolish of me to even propose the idea."

She was accordingly knocked out by a flying ball of pink fluff.

"I wanna visit Toushirou-chan!" Yachiru cried. "I wanna eat strange candies!"

On a similar level of energy, Matsumoto jumped up. "Me too!" She shrieked.

Wincing, Isane put a hand up to protect herself from spastic pink and blonde lieutenants. "We're not allowed to leave Soul Society." She pointed out.

Her protests fell deaf to the energetic pair. "I can open any gate," Matsumoto boasted confidently, flipping long hair over her shoulder and winking. Yachiru giggled. "Way to go Ran-blonde-chan!"

"Let's go pack now Yachiru-chan!"

"Will they let us?" Yachiru put a finger to her lips, a picture-perfect scene of adorable naivety.

Rangiku ruffled her hair. "Of course, they'll open it whenever I want it to open." She grinned and gestured to her well-endowed area.

The rest paled.

"Okay I'll tell Ken-chan!"

"Meet me near the 10th division, the last one doesn't get to huggle Hitsugaya-taichou!"

Both ran out of the room, slamming the door on eavesdropping Kira.

Nanao unsteadily rose, fixing crooked glasses.

"Someone alert Hitsugaya-taichou ASAP. He's going to have one hell of a day."

_GAH! Enter Matsumoto and Kusajishi! My eyes HURT!_

_I am SO SORRY that this chapter was not updated on Saturday. I blame the technical glitch the login form in fanfiction was having! So don't shoot me!_


	11. Entrance of SugarHigh

**The Muggle with White Hair**

**NOTE**: _I am no way copying any other BLEACHHP fics out there. Have fun reading, eating, flaming, criticizing! Also, this story takes place during the Order of the Phoenix arc._

Chapter 11: Entrance of Sugar-High

The wand was thrown across the room, landing on Neville's face.

"AH!" He shrieked as the point stabbed him in the eyeball.

Sheepish, Hitsugaya trotted forward and retrieved the wand. "Sorry," He muttered. Neville rubbed his eye ruefully. "Err, it's okay."

Embarrassed, Hitsugaya went back to practicing the _Inanimatus Conjurus_. After completing his essay for Professor Sprout, he had decided to make a few attempts at the spells McGonagall issued.

Was that a failure.

Stowing the wand messily back into the pocket of his robes, Hitsugaya gathered his books and exited the Common room. Ron and Harry had said something about "Quidditch practice" and left an hour earlier. Hermione mumbled a quick "Need more cotton," and also left the common room.

A little grateful that they weren't hanging around him, demanding on his knowledge about the Order, Hitsugaya walked briskly down staircases (avoiding the vanishing ones, naturally) and through hallways.

Ducking behind a statue of a one-eyed witch, he checked his cellphone again. No signal. _It was working fine before,_ Hitsugaya thought, scowling and shoving the contraption savagely away. _I should really get a new one.._

This line of thinking will be reinforced drastically later that day...

--------------------

"We can't contact Hitsugaya-taichou. His signals won't respond." Reported a meek, youthful faced, young man. He twisted his lab coat nervously at the expression on Ise Nanao's face.

She clutched at her book agitatedly. "Try again in the next hour." She ordered and the Burea of Technology assistant nodded. Leaving the boy to fiddle around with various large buttons, she started to worry.

If Hitsugaya-taichou could not be warned about Rangiku-san and Yachiru-san's gatecrashing party, then she would be the first one to have fingers pointed at. Something she did not like experiencing. Especially by the 10th squad captain.

Feeling a large load of anxiety, she went off to find someone who she could ask for help (and preferably a bottle of aspirin too).

-----------------

Dumbledore kneaded his fingers together and gazed at the small mass of bubble-gum pink rolling around the floor.

Backflipping to be more exact.

He had been doing his daily session of, _thinking_, when a circular-shaped Japanese _shoji_ door appeared out of thin air, upsetting Fawkes from his perch.

Dumbledore was on guard, but was still surprised at the duo that had stepped out. For one, they had outfits similar to Toushirou's, minus the white overcoat. For another, they had walked into his office chatting at a volume slightly louder than a blasting radio.

On catching sight of him, the blonde stopped, but the small child rocketed from its roost onto his desk.

She had bright short pink hair that curled softly around her large happy smile. Her large, dark brown eyes blinked up at him, the overall innocence warming Dumbledore's heart. The girl also seemed to have a perpetual blush of a strange orange shade settled on her chubby cheeks.

"Konnichiwa!" She had chirped.

The woman that had been carrying the girl paused in front of the desk. This time she was a great contrast from the small hyperactive child. Her looks hinted at great prime, instead of chubby cheeks she had the womanly..curves...and a long pink scarf was settled around her shoulders. All thoughts on how _mature_ she was vanished at the sight of her laughing gray eyes.

"Hello!" She quipped in uncertain English. "Day is fine, your name?"

Coughing to hide an amused chuckle, Dumbledore answered in Japanese. "My names is Albus Dumbledore. Yours are?"

The woman broke out in a large grin, relieved on how the man knew her language. "Matsumoto Rangiku. She's Kusajishi Yachiru."

Yachiru responded by stopping her acrobatics and tugging on Dumbledore's beard. "It's longer than Yamamoto-ji-san's!" She commented reverently.

"Am I correct to assume that you two are also shinigami?" He probed.

Matsumoto nodded. "I'm the lieutanant of the 10th division of the Gotei 13." Likewise, Yachiru also told him her title, "Lieutanant of the 11th division!"

_Lieutanants, a rank lower than captains._ Dumbledore concluded. "I am honored." The headmaster said, blue eyes twinkling. "But, the nature of your visit? Is it urgent? If so, I can contact Toushirou."

Both females threw looks of secret hilarity at each other. "Oh no, it's not urgent at all!" Matsumoto started, but was cut off by Yachiru. "We just want to see Shirou-chan!" The girl cheered.

"Well, then he should be alerted of your visit-"

Matsumoto frantically started waving her hand around. "We don't want to disturb him right away, we'll just pop in and see how he's doing...it's not necessary to tell him.."

Dumbledore suddenly had a sneaking suspicion that Toushirou did not even expect them...

Yachiru thankfully stopped pulling Dumbledore's beard off its roots and jumped back to Matsumoto. "We'll see you later oji-san!"

"Where are you two going?"

They both froze. In more accurate words, Matsumoto froze. "Going to find Shirou-chan and surprise him!" Yachiru answered, giving a rather ominous giggle.

Albus rose. "Well, as the headmaster of this school, I cannot let you wander through Hogwarts for your own personal enjoyment..." Matsumoto instinctively inhaled.

"Without a guide."

_Exhale_. Leaping across, Yachiru latched herself onto Dumbledore and warbled her thanks. He smiled and gestured at the door.

"Come in."

Matsumoto turned her head to see a tall, sallow-looking, greasy-haired, man stride into the room. He jumped back before visibly exerting control on himself on upon seeing a woman with an outrageous hair color standing in front of him. Tonks perhaps? He wondered.

Amused, she watched him edge around her before approaching Dumbledore's desk. "Professor Dumbledore, may I ask why there are two foreigners in your office?" His eyes ran across Yachiru, narrowing in disgust.

Seconds later they widened in shock as the pink blob somersaulted and landed on his head.

"Greasy hair! Ewww..." The girl commented, while holding fistfuls of his black hair.

Extremely offended, he turned to glare at Professor Dumbledore whose eyes were shining with mirth.

"Professor Dumbledore-" He started heatedly, before being interuppted.

"Matsumoto and Kusajishi-san, please say hello to your guide, Professor Snape."

----------------------

Professor McGonagall was on the hunt. She had been alerted of Peeves latest trick, tying up the robes of all blonde Hogwarts students and hanging them on the eaves of the roof, and was determined to put a stop to it. _He has gone too far_, she thought grimly as she marched down with briskness to her step.

_His pranks will only be tolerated...setting danger to a student...too much!_ A little bit jumbled up in her mind, Professor McGonagall failed to notice two people standing in front of her.

A loud wail made her jerk to a stop, head snapping up, eyes concentrating on a strange scene before her.

The person who had emitted the wail was currently waving his arms and giving harried excuses. The bald man gave no notice to his companion and went on methodically punching the canvas of a Hogwarts portrait.

A Hogwarts portrait...

"You there!" McGonagall shrieked. "Stop-What do you think you're doing? Stop!" She pulled out her wand and jinxed the painting with an Imperturbable charm causing the man to jump back.

"Hn?" He glared at her with his red-eye shadowed eyes. He moved forward to continue his maiming of property and was shoved by an invisible force. The scared boy, long black hair getting into his eyes, visibly flinched and retreated a few steps.

Angry, McGonagall did a quick safety check over the painting. It was Sir Cadogan's portrait. The aforementioned waving his long sword and screaming out obscenities.

"Come at me and fight like man!" The knight yelled.

The bald man had an expression on his face that seemed to hint on wanting to continue his battle. Ignoring this fact, McGonagall turned to face the intruder with a vengeful countenance. "I do not know who you think you are, young man. But I assure you, the occupants in Hogwarts paintings are entitled to self-respect and privacy."

She was on a rampage now, the timid boy shrinking back. "If you cannot respect those rules then you must take leave of Hogwarts. We have no need for a violent, brutish, student like you!"

"I'm not a student." The bald delinquent replied calmly. McGonagall stopped mid-rant, floundering. "Y-you're not? Then, why are you here at Hogwarts?"

Cautiously, the other boy lowered his arms. "Ano, Is there someone named Hitsugaya Toushirou here?" His accent heavy and a bit confusing.

McGonagall paused. "Yes there is." She admitted grudgily.

"Do you know where he is?" The boy asked again, quickly.

"Why don't you tell me your name first, boy." McGonagall said stubbornly.

"Yamada Hanatarou." He replied.

Seeing McGonagall throw him a rather savage look, the bald man gave her his name.

"Madarame Ikkaku."

----------------

Hanatarou did not expect anything like this when he was assigned the mission. A little after Nanao-fukutaichou's arrival, Unohana-taichou had requested him to see her at the office. He had been, to be truthful, expecting the weeky janitorial duties since everyone liked dumping them on him.

Gobsmacked on being briefed, Hanatarou took the job. Unohana-taichou explained that Hitsugaya had to be alerted of a certain pair's arrival and that his cellphone was not picking up the message. Hanatarou was one of the few people that was not busy with the upcoming war preparations and had been chosed to go as a messenger.

Might as well take this chance to visit Europe! The country of all those really generous white people. Sadly, this illusion was shattered on having been confronted by a screaming, British woman with a dangerous looking object in her left hand and a pointed hat wobbling on her head.

He probably could've avoided this nasty greeting altogether, if not for a certain famous hot-headed seat member that joined him.

Madarame Ikkaku.

Honestly, Hanatarou wished it was anyone but him. This thought slamming into his head more vividly when Madarame-san got involved in an escalating brawl.

With a painting.

Hanatarou had almost fainted when the small, silver man addressed him. Then again, he had passed out several times when a harness of armor laid a chain-mailed mitt on his shoulder and when the door blew a raspberry when the handle was turned. Madarame-san never did anything as girly as _fainting_, but reacted violently instead (which was probably worse). An example of when the door slammed itself onto their posteriors when they walked through in a revengeful fit.

_Why was this place so...scary and foreign?_ He thought miserably, watching the futile attempts of Sir Cadogan trying to stab Madarame-san. _What happened to all those really nice obaa-sans that gave you cookies and whatnot?_

Of course, this poor seventh-seat officer did not realize that he had been lied to.

Gathering his courage, Hanatarou addressed the woman to take advantage of her momentary confusion.

Thus she told her his name, started warningly at Madarame-san, and instructed them to follow her.

_I hope we get there before anything else happens_...Hanatarou wished.

------

I added some people...for humor of course. Don't worry, the plot will not go off. Plus, this is a side story so there will be only a few references to the actual events in the Order of the Phoenix. A side story is a filler practically. Which means, there shouldn't be any plot in a filler. (Laughs) Don't believe me? Just watch those Bleach ones!!


	12. Trials and Trebulations

**The Muggle with White Hair**

**NOTE**: _I am no way copying any other BLEACHHP fics out there. Have fun reading, eating, flaming, criticizing! Also, this story takes place during the Order of the Phoenix arc._

Chapter 12: Trials and Trebulations

If one looked at Ron's playing abilities at the Quidditch practice, preferably someone named Hitsugaya Toushirou, he would come to the conclusion that Ron basically-

sucked.

_He's not to blame though_, Hitsugaya gazed in the direction of the jeering Slytherin crowd. He would be annoyed by the continous distractions. Ron, obviously did not work well under pressure, on account of his foiled Quaffle saves.

Judging by that slow smirk on that rat, the Slytherins would do everything in their power to exploit Ron's weakness.

_Tough luck._ Hitsugaya rose from his sedentary position and rolled his shoulders back. He checked his cellphone again, a process that was becoming more mechanical with every passing hour. Looking at the blank screen, he let out a gusty sigh before clasping it shut. He would have to submit a report about the incompetence of the Bureau of Technology.

"You keep shifting around while you're watching the Chasers! Either stay in center position until you have to move to defend a hoop, or else circle the hoops, but don't drift vaguely off to one side, that's how you let in the last three goals!" Angelina's clear voice pierced the air.

Already disinterested, Hitsugaya walked down the length of the field, one hand clutching his Astronomy essay, another ruffling his hair.

----------

"So, Snivellus, right?"

Professor Snape turned around and directed the full glare at the busty orange-haired woman trailing behind him.

"_Severus_ _Snape_." He grinded out before continuing.

"So sorry Snivellus." Matsumoto replied innocently, laughing silently to herself as Snape twitched. Fortunately, Yachiru had also caught on.

She was on Matsumoto's shoulder, having been swatted off by Snape. Eagerly, she leaned forward and started singing.

"Snivellus, Snivellus, Snevallus, Snovollus, Snovllus, Snov, Snot, SNOT!" She prattled off, beaming. "You're new name is Snot!"

He clutched his wand before turning around for the second time. Snape was feeling the urge to _Cruciatus_ the little snippety brat. "I will not be called _Snot_." He snapped, feeling blood vessels pulsing. "Take care not to upset me or you'll find that your hair can be changed into a myriad of colors." Running his fingers threateningly over the wand, he marched onward.

A large amount of giggles met his back. "Snot is mad" The pink-haired brat singsonged. Matsumoto gave an unladylike snort.

Yachiru launched into a new song about Snape and several plushie objects as the group walked down the hallways.

Interested, Matsumoto took care to observe their surroundings. It was all strange and foreign, but Matsumoto was not unduly worried. _I hope they have some malls..I heard that Europe has the best shopping centers! _Planning all the new things she wanted to buy, Matsumoto hummed, a tune that clashed greatly with Yachiru's own song.

"Stop that noise." Snape snapped. Both were startled into silence, but Yachiru went on undaunted. As the Potions professor took a few ominous steps toward them, Matsumoto quickly spoke out.

"It's impossible to stop her. You might as well go with the flow." She smiled.

He scowled.

Yachiru grinned.

---------------------

Ikkaku gave a long, deep-throated yawn, ending with a snort and a sneeze. McGonagall threw him a look of disgust, but he could care less.

Hanatarou looked at both of them, a scared look crossing his features.

_Wimp_. Ikkaku insulted silently in his mind. Despite what many members of the other divisions thought, Ikkaku's mind was not a simple little puny space. Granted, it was occupied by mostly simple barbaric military tactics, but honestly, only a smart person could think of those simple strategies. Not realizing that he had just contradicted himself, Ikkaku nodded and drew the attention of Professor McGonagall.

She gave a disdainful sniff then lapsed into silence. Relieved, Hanatarou went back to thinking.

The trio started ascending a staircase.

Nearing the middle, McGonagall spoke her warning. "Careful, that step is-"

The step that Ikkaku and Hanatarou had so conveniently stepped on vanished into thin air.

Using his super-human reflexes (requested specially for the gigai), Ikkaku grabbed the banister and pulled himself to safety.

Hanatarou wasn't that lucky.

His feet met air and paused for a milli-second over the gap. Giving a panicked shriek, Hanatarou fell through, eyes squeezed shut, unable to see the result of his fall.

"_Wingardium Leviosa!_" Professor McGonagall shouted, performing a small complicated twirl of her wand.

Surprised, Ikkaku watched as gravity took its day off and Hanatarou floated in the air. It was a close save too since the stairs met his mid-belly. A few seconds later and the seventh squad seat member would've gone SPLAT.

Ikkaku liked sound effects, they took away the labor of thinking it out.

"Thank you." Hanatarou panted out, looking extremely relieved. "Idiot, you should've pulled yourself out." Ikkaku said.

Hanatarou hung his head. "Sorry." He mumbled.

"Sorry indeed, it wasn't your fault young man." McGonagall rounded on Ikkaku. "And you! Not everyone would've jumped out of that predicament as fast as you did. Do take heed of that blunt tongue of yours!"

Rolling his eyes, Ikkaku dismissed her barbed words. "Whatever, obaa-san."

Confused, McGonagall frowned. "O-bay-san?"

Not bothering to explain, Ikkaku continued climbing up the stairs.

"How dare you walk away from me! I want to know what kind of foul foreign word you just used on me." Professor McGonagall's eyebrows hovered dangerously as she followed the bald man.

Startled at how they were leaving him, Hanatarou squeaked. "Ah, McGonagall-san! Madarame-san!" Feeling his hopes plummet, he watched them both continue on their way.

Leaving him.

Leaving him hanging mid-way through a gap in a staircase with no clue on how long that spell McGonagall cast would stay.

-------------------

"I WANT CANDY!" Yachiru screamed, her chubby face contorted by some sort of insane expression.

Snape turned a shade of red in embarrasment and started walking at a more faster pace.

"CANDYCANDY!" The pink-haired girl chanted. She jumped from Matsumoto's shoulder and landed on the hard tiled floors. "GIVE ME CANDY, SNOT!!"

"Oh dang," Matsumoto muttered, rummaging through her modern gigai clothes. She knew that she had forgotten something. Now she had a highly hyperactive child on her hands. "You better give her candy, Snot." She called out.

Furious, he turned back around. "Does it look like I have candy?" He retorted. "Contrary to what you may believe, I do not carry those sugar-coated artificial substances in the pockets of my robe." Turning to Yachiru, he barked at her. "I have no candy and even if I did I would not give _any_ to you. So why don't you close your mouth and _be quiet_ for one single minute?"

Her response was nothing to what he expected.

The cheerful perky face darkened to a rather malevolent expression. Her eyes that represented two large bowls of melted chocolate now turned into two solid, angry-looking gems. The chubby smile took on a fierce growling gesture and parted slightly to reveal a large set of incisors.

"Give.me._candy._"

Was it just Snape's imagination that he saw a screaming, large pink phantom of a demon fox with murderous aura wafting from its every pore?

His imagining was cut short as Yachiru's chompers settled down on his arm.

"OY!"

-------------

Ten minutes and 58 seconds.

That was how long the spell worked.

During that time, Hanatarou had desperately tried to wriggle himself out of his dilemma. His arms, however, were tightly scrunched towards his body and were currently useless to him. He then tried bobbing up and down, then did small quirky jumps.

His efforts had failed him.

Feeling rather heavy all of a sudden, Hanatarou had only a few seconds to give a yelp before starting a journey downwards..

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

-------------------

"Practice was disgusting." Ron growled, his eyes flashing. Harry muttered a sullen agreement. Hitsugaya, who was trailing behind them both, remained silent.

Further conversation was interuppted by a panting, red-faced girl. "Do you know where Professor McGonagall is?" Parvati Patil asked hurriedly.

"No I don't." Ron snapped, going unnoticed by Patil. "Why do you need to see her?" Harry asked.

She seemed to be on the verge of breaking down completely. "Someone died!" Her statement was immediatly punctuated by several screams.

Mouths open, Ron and Harry rushed past the girl towards the sound of those extremely high voices. Hitsugaya did likewise, except his mouth was _closed_ not open like some idiot.

Except it opened a few seconds later on having arrived at the scene.

Yamada Hanatarou's body was lying spread-eagled on its back. His arms were, thankfully, not mutilated, but the same could not be said about his legs.

A large group of students were crowding around the body, whispering and giving frightened looks to each other.

"Bloody hell.." Ron swore, scaring a couple of 1st years. Harry was in some sort of state of shock. _How-why did this happen? Could it be because of a Death Eather? In the castle?_ This thought made him whirl around, paranoid.

_Why in Soul Society is Yamada here?_ Hitsugaya thought. _And why is his gigai body smashed to pieces?_

"Hitsugaya-taichou!"

The aforementioned quickly directed his eyes to a quivering lump of black shinigami robes. Hitsugaya quickly walked towards Yamada and hauled him up.

"Why in the world are you here?" He demanded, fist still curled around Yamada's collar. The seventh-seat member grinned weakly as if to appease him.

"Hitsugaya-taichou. They're here."

Stiffening, Hitsugaya tightened his hold. "Who's here? The Espada?"

Yamada shook his head woefully and hesitated.

"Matsumoto and Kusajish-san."

The 10th squad captain, on upon hearing two of the names he least wanted to encounter, gave a piercing yell that startled everyone in vicinity.

"WHAT!?"

-------------

_Let me say this in defense. Computer plus evil sister plus her obsession for watching dramas equals this rather late chapter. (Runs quickly in the opposite direction)._


	13. The Meeting

**The Muggle with White Hair**

**NOTE**: _I am no way copying any other BLEACHHP fics out there. Have fun reading, eating, flaming, criticizing! Also, this story takes place during the Order of the Phoenix arc._

Chapter 13: The Meeting

Neville Longbottom moved cautiously down the halls, throwing furtive looks at where Peeves might be hiding. He had not heard the news about the maimed corpse outside of Flitwick's classroom nor did he know that Hitsugaya was barreling towards him. Therefore, he was a poor, innocent boy who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time...

Sneaking out from behind the large statue of armor, he was seized from behind.

"AH!" He shrieked and was swiveled violently around to see the grinning face of a certain, evil poltergeist-

Wait no,

That foreign bloke?

To Neville, this was just as worse as Peeves, he was intimidated by the frank white hair and the "rebel" look Hetsugellia had about him. Only now, Hetsugellia had the sort of face expression that Snape got when Neville spilled the Burning Acid potion over the professor's robes.

Livid.

"Have you seen," Hitsugaya started, not caring that he was scaring the boy. "A ditzy, blond drunkard and a hyperactive pastel-colored midget?" Hitsugaya did not notice that he just described their characters instead of their facial traits.

Neville recognized neither of those descriptions and shook his head frantically. Cursing loudly in a different language, Hitsugaya dumped the boy onto the floor and continued his rampage.

Several minutes after that ordeal, Neville shakily picked himself up from the floor and retreated towards the Common Room. _Maybe spending time with Mimbelus Mimbletonia will do me some good..._He stopped short.

Professor Snape was in front of the Fat Lady's portrait, screaming obscenities.

A large pink blob was settled on his head, yanking black locks with an increasing vigor. She was definitely a female, by way of high-pitched voice, and was demanding...

"CANDY!" Yachiru screamed.

Neville considered running as fast as he could in the opposite direction. Professor Snape had the look of an extremely harried and tried man. Speak of the devil, Snape just looked his way!

Longbottom dove to the side to hide behind a statue of a tall, buxom woman with blonde hair.

_Wait, statue?_

It had to be a statue. No woman Neville had seen, had such large and bountiful-

"Hello boy," The angel said, smiling with angelic grace (in other words she was grinning evilly). "Don't mind them, they're just fighting."

Neville nodded, struck dumb with admiration.The angel smiled again causing his head to break into a woozy stupor. "Speaking of which, do you have any candy about you?"

It was pure insanity to refuse this heavenly goddess's request. As if still in a dream, Neville slowly withdrew a packaged Chocolate Frog. He passed it into her hand, basking in the pure loveliness of it all.

A shocked look (a majestic countenance) passed over the woman's face. _A frog?_ Matsumoto looked at the candy doubtfully then shrugged. Yachiru would eat almost anything that was sugary and saturated-fat loaded.

Flashing another smile at the strange English boy (who turned to a precise shade of tomato red), she plucked the screaming Yachiru from Snape's head and handed her the frog.

"Yachiru! I got you some...candy!" She sing-songed, gesturing with the frog. It was snatched from her hand faster than the naked eye could see. Yachiru tore off the wrapping and grabbed the frog mid-leap. She consumed it, legs and all, and stood there licking her lips and giggling.

Snape cautiously lowered his arms and threw a look of deepest loathing at Yachiru. He then directed his glare to Neville. "Longbottom." He said curtly, angry and slightly embarrassed to be caught in such a situation. "What are you doing, loitering around in the hallways?" Neville quickly snapped out of his state.

"P-pro-professor.." Stuttering, he tried to hide behind the valkyrie of hope and wonder. Snape, obviously, did not think Matsumoto was a "valkyrie of hope and wonder" and snapped at her to move aside.

Her reply was to shove it up his-to which he hissed and growled at. Snape also snarled at the Fat Lady's portrait, who had burst out laughing on cue to Matsumoto's comment.

"That's a good one." She gasped out, wiping a tear on the sleeve of her pink dress. "It's not every day where I hear-"

The portrait swung open to reveal three students clambering through a large, cavernous hole. Ron, Harry, and Hermione stopped short at the sudden appearance of the group.

_Oh great, the Potter brat and his little friends.._Snape wondered if this day would ever end. Yachiru's reaction was totally different. With a hop, skip, bounce, and cartwheel, she landed in front of Ron.

"Hi!" Chirping loudly, she scrambled up his side only to pause at his shoulder. "HI!" This time, she screamed it into Ron's ear. The Weasley yelped and waved her off frantically. She, likewise, repeated this process on both Harry and Hermione.

Their ears sore, they watched, incredulous, as Yachiru went backflipping back to cling to Matsumoto's ankle.

Hermione, having caught sight of Matsumoto, was at once guarded and extremely jealous. The woman was all that she wanted to be when she grew up, curves, clear complexion, and great hair. Tugging at her own wild and bushy locks, she aimed a scowl at the woman.

Ron was utterly stupefied at seeing someone with such large assets. Like all adolescent teenage boys, warnings of a nosebleed and drool started to thunder in his brain.

Harry, embarrassed, averted his eyesight to anywhere but in front of him. He thought about Cho Change and desperately tried to remain loyal. Which was sort of hard, since the woman was..._distracting_.

"Potter, Weasley, Granger." The Potions professor barked out, momentarily diverting their thoughts. "It's past curfew to go out on your so called _heroic_ journeys in Hogwarts. Go back into the Common room. Twenty-five points from Gryffindor." He added as an afterthought, smirking at their distraught and angry looks.

"Well that's not nice, Snot." Matsumoto said, yet again drawing their attention. "You must be a real hit with the students."

"Keep your snide simpleton comments to yourself, woman." Abandoning all hospitality, Snape withdrew his wand and waved it around. "We're moving on." He turned and started down the hall.

"On the contrary, I want to see what that room is." Curious, Matsumoto waved her hand at the Fat Lady's portrait. She glanced at Ron, who blushed. "Boy, what's that room?"

After spouting out a couple of nonsense words, Ron answered. "Err, um, uh, it's the, um, Gryffindor Common Room."

Hermione wanted to smack him. He was making such a fool out of himself. More than usual.

Yachiru released her hold on Matsumoto's ankle and pressed her chubby hands on the large frame. "I want to see!" She begged, pushing the portrait fruitlessly.

"Now now, Yachiru-chan." Matsumoto reminded. "It's good to satisfy our curiousities, but we need to know where Hitsugaya-taichou is first, THEN, we can explore the room!"

Having realized that the pair wasn't following him, Snape stalked back. "You will do nothing of the sort, the Common rooms are strictly off-limits to foreigners such as yourselves."

She waved her hand dismissively in response. "Yeah yeah, whatever." The pink-haired child mimicked her motions. "Yeah yeah whatever, Snot."

Twitch.

Harry looked on, fascinated. He had never seen the Potions Professor this ticked off before. It was actually pretty amusing. Grinning, he attracted Snape at once.

"Take that smirk off your face." Severus commanded. "Did you three just hear what I said? Go back into that Common Room and maintain ignorance, something that shouldn't be so very hard for you."

Matsumoto promptly smacked his back. "Who gave you stacks of paperwork? Honestly, Snot, calm down."

Yachiru parroted right after. Encouraged, Matsumoto went on. "You've got to stop having that ugly expression on your face, you'll only scare the children. And for another-" She stropped abruptly. Peering around her, she seemed to be searching for something. Or someone.

Hitsugaya suddenly came into view. His fists were clenched, mouth set into a deep scowl, brow furrowed, several ticks pulsing at the top of his forehead, and a large wave of fury alerting all that he was _pissed_.

"MATSUMOTO!" He screamed, bent on exacting harsh punishment on his stupid lieutanent. The orange-haired lady gave a loud laugh and opened her arms, intercepting the small white boy. "Hitsugaya-taichou!"

He tried to dodge swiftly, but was crushed to the point of suffocation in Matsumoto's chest instead.

"Mat-su-gasp-mo-to..."

Hermione looked on, alarmed, as Hetsugellia's body went slack. "You're killing him!" She shrieked, unable to contain herself any longer at seeing attempted murder before her eyes.

The woman paid no heed. The only reason why Hitsugaya was spared from further suffering was because of Yachiru knocking him from Matsumoto's embrace. Accordingly, the pink-haired lieutanent also glomped him. "Shirou-chan!" She giggled happily.

Peeling the girl off of him, Hitsugaya proceeded to calmly deal with the situation. "Kusajishi, tell me why the hell you're here."

**So much for calm.**

_Shush it._

Wriggling from his grasp, Yachiru gave an all-too-innocent whistle. "I'm here because I missed you, Shirou-chan. What other reason should I have?" Smile. Matsumoto jumped towards him. "And I missed you too taichou!!"

Hitsugaya dodged. Matsumoto ended up pinning poor Neville to the floor. The latter fainting from pure shock and happiness.

"Whoops." The woman commented, poking Neville a few times. He didn't respond which made Harry wonder if Neville had died. Snape suddenly joined the conversation, angry that he had been neglected.

"If you're done talking." He began nastily. "Then-"

Ron cut Snape off. "Who are you guys?" He asked eagerly, the question mostly aimed at Matsumoto. Hitsugaya gave a warning look at his lieutanant.

She ignored him. "Matsumoto Rangiku. And that girl is Kusajishi Yachiru." The trio only cast blank looks at her. "Matsu- what?" Ron asked, confounded.

"It's no use telling them your names. They can't pronounce them." Hitsugaya lashed out. Harry and the rest looked offended. "What do you mean by that, huh Hetsugellia?" Ron badgered.

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes.

"Well," Snape started again, fuming. This time, Hermione barged in. "My name is Hermione Granger."

"Ron Weasley."

"Harry Potter." Harry muttered, giving a quick look at the reaction of the two foreigners. They just smiled complacently, no amount shock crossing their faces. To be truthful, Harry was a little disappointed...

Yachiru twirled around. "To hard." She commented. "I know!"

She pointed at Hermione. "You'll be Big-Bushy-chan!"

Ron. "You'll be Red-haired-Idiot-kun!"

Harry. "You'll be Thunder-Emo-Glasses-kun!"

_Aren't those names as difficult?..._Hitsugaya thought wearily. Snape had an extremely incensed look on his face. "Will you twits shut up-"

This time Ron interjected. "I don't want to be called!...Whatever you called me." He obviously did not understand Japanese. The same thing could not be said about Hermione. "I don't want to be called big and bushy!" She complained. Harry was dumbfounded.

Yachiru paid no heed, instead glancing at Neville's prone body. "I forgot you!" She crowed. "You'll be Klutzy-bear!"

"That's pretty good Yachiru-chan!" Matsumoto exclaimed, impressed.

_They're idiots._

**Great minds think alike.**

**-----**

_Oh gosh, this chapter was late. I was busy this week typing up my Debate paper and stuff. I'm pathetic, always using homework as an excuse. Gah!_


	14. Spell

**The Muggle with White Hair**

**NOTE**: _I am no way copying any other BLEACHHP fics out there. Have fun reading, eating, flaming, criticizing! Also, this story takes place during the Order of the Phoenix arc._

Chapter 14- Spell

"GAH SHUT UP ALL OF YOU!" Severus Snape had finally reached the end of his rope. Breathing heavily, he ran his hands across his greasy hair in an effort to calm down. "Potter, Weasley, Granger, Longbottom, Toushirou, get back into that Common Room. Fifty points each from Gryffindor!" Swiveling, he faced the remaining duo. "And you two, either follow me or _leave_ _Hogwarts_."

Matsumoto and Yachiru looked at each other. "You have _got_ to get a chill pill, Snot."

The extremely ticked off Potions Professor drew his wand. And was knocked over by-

"Madarame?" Hitsugaya shouted. Yamada had failed to tell him that he had a traveling cohort.

Madarame Ikkaku blinked. "Hitsugaya-taichou. Yo." He raised a hand in a lazy salute.

Professor McGonagall came quickly onto the scene, looking horrified. "You! How dare you assault a Hogwarts teacher!"

Snape, on upon McGonagall's arrival, sprang up and resorted to incoherent hissing. "Watch where you're going you hair-less old man!"

Ikkaku sprang towards Snape and grabbed him by the collar. "Oy, you _punk_, what did you just call me?" He waved his bokuto threateningly in the air, flames of irritation and anger rising from him in waves.

"Is that bloke _bald_?" Ron whispered none to quietly in Harry's ear. Both boys flinched as Ikkaku raised incensed eyes towards them. Hermione gave a squeak. _Honestly could they be more stupid?_ Hitsugaya thought exasperatedly as Ikkaku advanced towards the trio, one hand still on Snape's collar.

"Oy, you little brats, which one of you was the one who called me bald?" The trio shut up in response, they weren't that stupid in confessing.

It looked like Ikkaku was going to unleash the full fury of his bokuto regardless of what they were going to say in their defense.

Yachiru cannonballed onto Ikkaku's head and bit down hard. "Baldie!" She squealed happily, as happily as one could when one's teeth was clamped onto a skull. Ikkaku responded with a strange screaming noise and resorted to dancing around trying to snatch the pink-haired child from his head.

"Gah, Kusajishi-fuku-taichou!" He yelped frantically. Harry, Ron, and Hermione breathed simultaneous sighs of relief now that the scary bald man wasn't adamant on destroying them.

Likewise, Ikkaku released his hold on Snape, the Potions Professor took his chance. "All of you-" Matsumoto flipped him over nonchalantly with her arm. "Hallo," She greeted Professor McGonagall who looked taken aback. McGonagall had never seen a women that had the word _foreigner_ displayed so prominently on her. Especially with that eye-blinding orange hair.

McGonagall eyed her suspiciously before turning to Hitsugaya. "Mr. Toushirou." She started stiffly. "Am I correct in presuming that this man is one of your acquaintances?" Hitsugaya nodded somewhat resentfully. He didn't want to admit that he actually knew the duo who was screaming and sprinting around the room, as known as Yachiru and Madarame.

"So these are your friends Hetsugellia?" Hermione questioned, eyes glued to the pandemonium before her.

Twitch.

"I wouldn't say friends," Hitsugaya began, but was cut off. "How can you say that taichou!" Matsumoto complained. "Of course we're your friends!" She then proceeded to suffocate him in another hug. Yachiru turned devious eyes toward the pair. "Yeah Hitsugaya-chan, we are your friends!" She dragged Ikkaku over towards the them and enveloped them into a large group hug. Ikkaku somewhat awkwardly.

"Well I guess that answers your question Hermione." Harry stated, his voice carefully lowered. Hitsugaya heard it anyway and pulsed with irritation. Meanwhile, Ron was sighing in jealousy. "Hetsugellia is such a ladies man."

Ikkaku broke from Yachiru's grip and glared at Ron. "Are you implying something, huh, you short twerp?"

Before this could escalate into another giant fight, professor McGonagall stepped in. "Be quiet all of you!" She glared at Ikkaku once again. "Potter, Weasley, Ms.Granger, kindly get back to your Common Room. It's way past your curfew anyway, so fifteen points off Gryffindor."

The trio exploded into complaints and whining. Ignoring that everyday occurence, McGonagall turned to the group huggers. "Release Mr. Toushirou from your grips or I will charge you on aggresive actions towards Hogwarts students." Here she stared pointedly at Matsumoto.

The group sullenly let go of each other, Hitsugaya gasping for air.

Professor McGonagall wasn't done yet. "Mr. Toushirou, go to the Common Room." This time Hitsugaya stood his ground, he had just been glomped two times, he _had_ to save face. "I'm sorry Professor McGonagall, but I cannot. My comrades have come to bring me urgent news and I must hear it."

This was the part where the Matsumoto and Yachiru looked nervously at each other. Well, Matsumoto looked nervous. Yachiru looked hungry.

"And what is so urgent that you get to stay out of curfew?" McGonagall raised her eyebrow.

Hitsugaya opened his mouth, then closed it. To be truthful, he was stumped. How was he supposed to answer her question while not revealing anything about Soul Society? Also, how was he going to make an excuse important enough for her to get out of his hair? His mind quickly whirred in desperation.

But then, he wasn't the child prodigy of Soul Society for nothing.

"They have sent me news beforehand about an alarming situation concerning my transfer to Hogwarts," Hitsugaya started smoothly, hoping that the clueless looks his fellow shinigami sported didn't kill his lie. "It seems that my own school is trying to withdraw the agreement they made with Hogwarts. This has to be cleared up immediately under Headmaster's Dumbledore's notice. Therefore, I must introduce the messengers to the headmaster and confer with them."

Professor McGonagall frowned as Hitsugaya waited with bated breath. His expression was of one with unduly concern, he was sure that the lie would go through.

A rustle of movement distracted everyone as Snape got up shakily. "Don't listen to that little brat," He panted, eyes showing one with much experience. "It's obvious that he made up the excuse on spot."

_Damn._

Harry sympathesized with Hetsugellia. Snape seemed to see through all excuses no matter how well thought they were.

For once, Matsumoto came to the rescue. "Are you saying that this fragile state of affairs isn't important enough to break a single Hogwarts rule? Be careful with your words mister or S.A will be forwarding a demand for your release from the faculty."

Shocked, the rest of the group turned to her.

_What the? Since when did Matsumoto have that extensive of a vocabulary?_ Hitsugaya thought, completely thrown off.

_She's hot and smart!_ Ron squealed mentally.

_Matsumoto is a crafy liar._ Ikkaku commented.

_I guess she has some brain underneath that hair.._Hermione contributed.

_Hmmm, that woman does have a point._ Professor McGonagall thought grudingly.

_Did she just contradict me? How dare that foreigner threaten my expulsion from Hogwarts! She clearly does not know her own place._ Snape, as usual, was venomous.

_For once I hope that Snape doesn't listen to her. Goodness knows, things would be a lot better around here without that git._ Harry hoped estatically.

_Candy._ Yachiru pondered.

Neville was dreaming about the subject in question.

"Fine." Professor McGonagall said curtly, interrupting all thought processes. "I, however, will be checking in with headmaster Dumbledore to prove your story."

Hitsugaya stood his ground, face carefully arranged to know show anything. "Thank you," Nodding stiffly, he turned away.

"See you around Hetsugellia." Harry said awkwardly.

Hitsugaya paused, did not turn back, and walked on.

The group followed, Matsumoto and Ikkaku with Yachiru on his head. "Neh, taichou. You didn't tell us that you made some friends your own age!"

Glare. "Be quiet. And they are not my own age, I'm at least 115 years older. Or is that your definition of having the same age?"

Matsumoto, undaunted, only gave a cheeky grin. "You're the same height as them."

Yachiru took temporary placement on Hitsugaya' s shoulder, much to his annoyance. "Hey, Hitsugaya-chan, got any candy?"

"No." He retorted. She groaned and started to poke him. "Liar, liar, pumpkin-eater!"

"Pumpkin-eater? Kusajishi-fuku-taichou, I think it's pants on fire." Ikkaku said out of the blue. Yachiru stuck out her lower lip. "Quiet lightbulb-head!"

Incensed, Ikkaku gave a noise of protest. "Stop calling me that! My head is not a lightbulb, it doesn't even shine!"

"It shines like the moon." Matsumoto put in.

"The moon doesn't shine. It glows."

"I didn't know that you were aware of the difference, baldie!"

"Hitsugaya-chan, candy!"

"You shouldn't accuse me of not knowing anything Rangiku-san, after all, who was the one who spelled Gikongai wrong at the entrance exams?"

"That was you, idiot."

"Candy, candy, candy, candy, candy, candy-"

"That was not me, that was you."

"Nuh uh, for your information, I got a perfect score on the exams."

"That is called an exaggeration."

"Spell exaggeration."

"Spell spell."

"Spell bald idiot."

"Spell vain peacock."

"Spell barbarian."

"Spell woman-who-looks-into-a-mirror."

"Spell CANDY!"

"SHUT UP!" Hitsugaya roared, ending the spelling bee. The group was quelled, throwing angry looks at each other. Silence reigned, Yachiru breaking it now and then with a loud song.

_Honestly, what was Yamamoto-sou-taichou thinking of sending them here?_ Hitsugaya groaned.

**They're pretty amusing.**

_Not if you're forced to listen to them for three hours straight._

**Hmm.**

"Hitsugaya-taichou, where are we going?" Matsumoto finally asked.

Diverting his attention from his conversation with Hyouinmaru, Hitsugaya blinked. "To Dumbledore."

"Dum-what?" Ikkaku was confounded.

"Dumbledore, stupid, weren't you listening?" The blond, busty woman insulted.

"What kind of name is Dumbledore?"

"Well what kind of name is baldie?"

"It's not even my name!"

"Don't deny it!"

"Gah, I hate you!"

"Spell hate."

"Spell extremely annoying."

"Spell-"

_Oh boy._

----------------

_Apologies for my extremely late update! Halloween was distracting, so was my lack of creativity. And my writer's block. I know what to do, but I don't know how to end this filler. Kill them all? Some arrancar plot stuff next chappie hopefully. The whole "JK Rowling Outs Dumbledore" really killed me. I was considering on boycotting all HP material. But then, that would be so unfair to all my faithful readers, reviewers, story-alerters, author-alerters, and story-favoriters. Your new author slave, FireyFlames._


	15. Unique

**The Muggle with White Hair**

**NOTE**: _I am no way copying any other BLEACHHP fics out there. Have fun reading, eating, flaming, criticizing! Also, this story takes place during the Order of the Phoenix arc._

Chapter 15: Unique

"And your names are?" Professor Dumbledore asked, serenely looking onward over his desk.

Ikkaku Madarame glanced at him with a bored look. Yamada Hanatarou looked on nervously. "Yamada Hanatarou." He squeaked. "Madarame Ikkaku." The bald man replied, yawning rudely. Hanatarou winced at his obvious rudeness.

Hitsugaya sighed frustratingly. Among the group now assembled at Dumbledore's office, Yamada was the only one not in his gigai body. Apparently, it was difficult and extremely painful when one attempted to enter a crushed and mangled shell. Speaking of the gigai, they had to abandon it in Madame Pomfrey's ward in order not to garner suspicions.

_Their coming onto the scene has just made things loads more difficult._ Hitsugaya thought wearily, scowl prominent.

"And what has brought you here, Yamada-san, Madarame-san?" Dumbledore asked, breaking Hitsugaya's sullen thoughts. The captain jerked his head up and glared at both of them.

_Don't mess this up._

Yamada was extremely flattered at how the way Dumbledore put _san_ at the end of his name. No one ever _ever_ gave him the honorific! Not even the fresh new shinigami recruits. Madarame was picking his teeth in a rather slovenly fashion. He had never cared for authority and the only person he respected was his captain, Zaraki Kenpachi.

_Why did it take them this long to reply?_

A slight popping noise coming from Hitsugaya's jugular vein alerted Matsumoto. She stepped forward, giving a belligerent smile, and pinched the sensitive skin on Yamada's elbow. _Hard_. Yachiru took care of Ikkaku by knocking him over with another of her famous cannonballs.

Dumbledore coughed politely and averted his eyes. He waited for the chaos to stop, another of his trademark smiles lingering on his face. Hitsugaya tried hard to ignore the large amount of wailing, screaming, and thumping going around. At least Matsumoto got the message in time.

"H-hai!" Yamada shrieked suddenly, realizing that he was being a moron. "We've come to bring back-"

Pinch.

"Matsumoto-san...that's very painful!" Hanatarou complained, rubbing his sore elbow. She pinched him again for fun.

Ikkaku was wrestling with Yachiru, amazedly the pink-haired lieutenant seemed to be winning.

Hitsugaya swiveled his head towards Dumbledore, hoping that the panic he felt in his soul was not reflected in his emerald eyes...As leader of this immature, useless group, he had to take charge. Public impressions.

Screw public impressions.

"Matsumoto stop bothering Yamada. And you two, get yourselves off the floor."

Guiltily, Matsumoto withdrew her hand much to Yamada's relief. Meanwhile, Yachiru also exited the battle with a smile and a giggle of obedience. Ikkaku contemplated on whether or not to obey the white-haired...kid...until he felt the frigid aura wafting from Hitsugaya. That helped make his decision.

Dumbledore raised a single eyebrow before letting it droop back into its original position. According to his observations, Toushirou probably held a position of authority amongst the strange group. He carried himself in such a way that implied that he was used to being the leader and radiated maturity well beyond his age. _Interesting_...

"Pardon my companions behavior, Professor Dumbledore." Hitsugaya started frigidly. He made believe that he did not see the laughter in Dumbledore's eyes..."Despite what the first impressions they gave you, they're not the idiotic psychopaths you have come to believe."

The other shinigami gave him affronted looks.

Leaning forward, Dumbledore's silver lenses slid down his nose. "Nothing of the kind has appealed to me, Toushirou." He reassured. "However, I am curious to know the urgency of their visit?"

Hitsugaya glanced back, eyes practically boring holes into his fellow comrades.

_Uh oh._ Matsumoto thought frantically. _What am I supposed to say?_ Indeed, Matsumoto's former streak of intellect had run out. Now she was left with three seconds to think up an excuse. _Mind don't fail me now._ She opened her mouth. "We came to see if...Shiro-Hitsugaya was feeling well."

Her captain twitched. _Well? Of all the reasons, Matsumoto had to come up with the obviously not true one._ Simmering, Hitsugaya still gave a little cough in hopes of fortifying the lie.

Dumbledore was not an idiot. "He hasn't been visiting Madam Pomfrey," He began. "I think he's well enough."

In response, Matsumoto suddenly let loose a nervous, trilling laugh that caused Hanatarou to jump. "Of course! We should've known that our captain would never catch any sicknesses. Our mistake." Large smile.

In order to stop her saying anything more, Hitsugaya quickly cut her off. "And why are you here, Madarame? Yamada?" Matsumoto and Kusajishi were in for it, he thought outraged. They had wasted his time that could've been spent hunting down more traces of arrancar.

"We were sent here to warn you about Rangiku-san and Kusajishi-san." Madarame said, not knowing that he contradicted Matsumoto. Hanatarou winced immediately. _Uh oh.._

_Oh gosh, I hope the old man didn't hear that._ Controlling his momentary bout of anger, Hitsugaya casually looked at Dumbledore. His hopes plummeted as he met the calm blue eyes of the headmaster. Turning swiftly away, Hitsugaya instead glared daggers at Madarame.

The headmaster shifted, adjusting one of his sleeves. Letting the silence stretch, he looked up and glanced soulfully at first Hitsugaya then Ikkaku. "Ah, and why would you need to warn a comrade-"

He was cut off by a sudden large wave of pressure that rolled across the room. The sudden shift in power threw everyone off causing Dumbledore to pause and Yamada to squeak and gasp for air.

_Good timing._ Hitsugaya thought. He almost sent up a thankful prayer to Hueco Mundo before realizing that Aizen was probably the ones who had sent them. Them. Not one, but around three of those foul creatures.

Swallowing the pill, he took a quick look at his subordinates before experiencing the strange spiritual shift. Madarame and Matsumoto quickly followed, pills coursing down their esophagus's. "Kusajishi, you stay here with Yamada." Toushirou instructed quickly before turning to Dumbledore. "Headmaster Dumbledore, we will continue this later."

Without seeing if Dumbledore had acknowledged or not, Hitsugaya (with Rangiku and Ikkaku trailing close behind) passed through the stone wall. He braced himself for the magical barrier, a wince contorting his face for a split second before he passed through.

"Ow! What the-what is this?" Ikkaku yelped as his bald shiny pate came into contact with the wall.

Matsumoto laid a tentative hand out in front of her as if acting a part of a mime. "Demon arts?" She quickly looked up. "Taichou!"

However he was already shunpoing away...

--------------------

This time, the arrancar auras were not located in the _Forbidden Forest_. They were farther away, across the opaque waters of the lake and situated somewhere on the thin strip of coast. Hitsugaya was slightly aware of the fact that both members of his team were way behind. _Honestly..._The frustrating emotions he had to experience because of them! Hitsugaya gave another soft huff before dissipating his footholds.

Gliding through the air, the white haired child did not have enough time to expect the cero.

The spurt of energy made him double backwards, legs kicking against gravity. Toushirou twisted to his side instinctively and lashed out with his zanpaktou in order to parry the blow.

Against...

"You're still alive?" Hitsugaya grunted out, responding with a vicious slash to his opponent.

The familiar equnine skull grinned back at him. "I was never dead." The same red-haired arrancar sneered. "A shinigami of your abilities won't be able to kill me so easily!" Taking a quick step to the side, the arrancar used her _sonido_ skills to attack Toushirou's unguarded side.

He responded with the same skill, _shunpo._ "Forgive me; you didn't give me the impression of being amazingly strong the first time we met."

Typical firefight banter. Amid the insults, Hitsugaya's mind was whirring rapidly. _I distinctly remembered removing her head from her body. What the hell is going on here?_

"You seem confused, shinigami." The girl taunted, darting forward and back in annoying repetitive gestures. "Why in the world would I still be alive if my head was obliterated by your zanpaktou?"

The 10th squad captain shot a few lighting bolts at her for good measure. She ducked quickly, the tip of her braid singed and smoking. She continued talking, undaunted. "I'm different from the rest of my pathetically weak comrades. Different from the Espada. I'm more unique. More stronger. Quicker. Faster. Smart-"

That's when Hitsugaya thrust his knee into her stomach. However, since he had short legs, the injury the arrancar received wasn't enough to knock her off-balance. Angrily, she shot for his legs in hopes of tripping him, but it didn't work.

It was hard to trip in midair.

"Are you really? If the Espada is, as you say, weaker than you, then Soul Society wouldn't have anything to worry about." He lashed out with his sword, impaling her braid.

Jerking her head to be free, the arrancar retreated quickly. "Gah, my hair!" She shrieked, wriggling furiously.

**End this Toushirou.**

_Hmmm..._

Hitsugaya complied by letting his reiatsu rise a couple of levels. "You're certainly unique alright, you must be the only idiot in Hueco Mundo that grew your hair." He gripped his zanpaktou and formed the words of the release.

"Set upon the-"

"Langlock!"

Almost as soon as the incantation left the arrancar's mouth, Hitsugaya felt his tongue attach itself to the roof of his mouth.

_What-?_

He stared, shock scribbled all over his face. Hitsugaya halted at once, oblivious to Hyouinmaru's demands increasing. _Why-_

"Stupefy!"

_Shit..._ was the last thought that ran through before his conscious submerged into darkness.

----------

_DUN DUN DUN!! (Runs and locks self into a room where no questions shall be answered!) MUAHAHAH! Hitsugaya...was...sadly...PWNED!_


	16. The Bashing of Arrancars

**The Muggle with White Hair**

**NOTE**: _I am no way copying any other BLEACHHP fics out there. Have fun reading, eating, flaming, criticizing! Also, this story takes place during the Order of the Phoenix arc._

Chapter 16: The Bashing of Arrancars

"Dumbledore-san, could you open the barrier before my captain unleashes his zanpaktou on me?" Matsumoto asked sweetly trying hard to hide her panic.

Ikkaku was sitting on the floor making sure to stay at least 5 feet away from his superior officer, Kusajishi. He had adopted a lazy, slouched position, and accordingly yawned as he looked at Fawkes. "Calm down Rangiku-san, Hitsugaya-taichou is probably on his way here now."

Matsumoto scoffed in return. "The arrancar auras haven't disappeared at all, and you're saying that Hitsugaya-taichou is coming back? Oh please." She refocused her bright blue eyes at Dumbledore, who shifted uncomfortably. "Dumbledore-san, please, for the auras to still be out there...considering that it's three on one...Cancel your magic."

Headmaster Dumbledore shook his head slowly. "Rangiku-san," He started in flawless Japanese, accent not ruined by his English heritage. "I cannot, simply, cancel the magic. That would leave the whole school at the hands of danger and reveal them to the muggles, the non-magic citizens. It is not even my magic, truthfully, it is the school's."

Throwing a confused look at him, Rangiku frowned. "The...school's magic?" Then, impatiently, her frown was engraved deeper. "Surely you can at least let me through for a few seconds?"

All she got in return was an almost piteous, look. "A few seconds could mean every danger exposed. However, if you go through the front door in your..._gigai_...I'm sure that-"

"How long would that take?" Rangiku complained, throwing her hands up in a frustrated gesture.

Ikkaku straightened up and glared at his companion. "I didn't know that you had so little faith in Hitsugaya-taichou. He's not the child prodigy for nothing. Stop badgering that old man and just shut up."

Hanatarou prepared for the verbal warfare that was sure to begin after Ikkaku's particular insulting comment.

Yachiru was leaping from one of the rather fragile looking tables to the other. The portraits cried out as she continued her acrobatics, certain that she would break something. "Rangiku-san, wait for Shirou-chan. He's bound to come!" She said happily after executing a perfect landing roll.

Rangiku gave a loud and gusty sigh. "Okay, fine. But I'm blaming everything on Ikkaku if Hitsugaya taichou comes after me."

Madarame yawned. "Whatever."

------------

"When do you reckon Hetsugellia's going to come back?" Ron asked, out of the blue.

Startled, Hermione looked up from Harry's homework she had been looking over. "He didn't come back last night?"

Harry shook his head. "Nope, didn't see him come into the room." He was confused and a little resentful. After all, Hetsugellia missed all his classes today. _The lucky git._

"Wonder if he'll come back with those strange blokes. 'Cept, that woman was a real babe..What was her name again?"

Suddenly feeling irritated, Hermione slammed her quill down, spewing ink over Harry's essay. "I think she's out of your league Ron," She said nastily.

Ron tightened the tension with an insolent remark. "You're just jealous because you're nowhere near her stage of development-"

Harry winced. He could practically feel the temptation to hex Ron coming off Hermione in waves.

However, Hermione, instead of reacting violently like usual, grinned amiably. "I'm not in the slightest bit jealous of that foreigner." Her voice was cool, calm, and dangerous. "Rather, I think it's so unfortunate. That she has to have a pig-like brutish oaf like you who's terrible at Quidditch running after her…"

She was cut off as Ron leapt from his comfortable curled up position in his armchair. "What?" He snapped.

_Is this the fifth time or what, oh bugger.._Hastily, Harry swiped his homework from Hermione's gasp, muttered quiet thanks and I'll-be-going-to-bed-for-now, and retired to his dorm, leaving the screaming pair behind him...

---------

"Oy,

"When's he going to wake up?"

A deep masculine voice slammed itself painfully in Hitsugaya's mind. The first thing he realized as his consciousness was slowly reviving was that he was flat on his back.

The second was that he could not move his limbs. Quickly, Hitsugaya bit back his growing questions and assessed his surroundings. Assuming that the warmth he felt on his cheek was sunlight, Toushirou quickly deduced that he outside. Small grits of sand rubbed uncomfortably on the nape of his neck which meant that he was still at the lake...

Three presences pulsed ominously around him. One in the sky, the other at his left side and the final one a few yards away.

_...This day is just getting better._

"When is he-"

"Oh shut up, Lusala. You're so annoying." Snapped a familiar soprano.

"And an inferior arrancar like you can tell me what to do? I think not Belicia!"

"Watch it, I'm the one who captured the shinigami!"

"Guys..." This time, a wobbly, soft voice drifted over. The arrancar that had previously been the farthest from Hitsugaya was now hovering over him.

_Don't open your eyes._ Hitsugaya quickly maintained his false sleep, face muscles relaxed and breaths even.

"Oh really? Like you weren't failing miserably in the beginning."

"I'd like to see you try, you trans-"

"I am not a trans-"

"Please be quiet."

"-Vetite."

"Shut the hell up you bitc-"

_Of all arrancars that knocked me out, I had to get the two most alike with Matsumoto and Ikkaku..._

Subtly, Hitsugaya tested his fingers and legs. They were stiff, but were able to move..._Thank gosh,_ he thought briefly. He couldn't stand any more of this "captured" stuff. How in the world did he get caught in the first place? Hitsugaya probed his memories. It was a little fuzzy, he concluded after thinking hard and back. The memory would probably come back a little later. Now he had to concentrate on getting the hell out of here.

"What's wrong Lusala? Did I strike a nerve?"

The male arrancar gave a venomous hiss in response. "Say it again and I'm going to kick your a-"

'Belicia' screamed out a taunt that was unintelligible, but obviously ticked off the other arrancar. Both auras collided with each other and flared in magnitude.

Hoping to use this as a distraction, Hitsugaya waited for the third arrancar to get involved in the situation.

"Guys! Don't-eek!"

_That's my cue_. Hitsugaya thought as his kidou destroyed his bonds. He rolled to his side immediately and used his hands and feet to prop himself up. The two quarreling arrancars were still fighting and screaming, ceros peppering the ground and narrowly missing each other. The female, Belicia, had grabbed her sword and was trying to impale her compatriot on the other end. The male, Lusala, was doing strange interpretative dances around her in order to dodge.

Hitsugaya couldn't resist rolling his eyes as he entered airspace. _Amateurs…_He scoffed.

Meanwhile, as these few seconds went slowly by, the third arrancar was beginning to notice the absence of their shinigami victim. Her eyes, the color of electric blue (that is if electricity was blue), slowly went to her feet before scanning the air.

"What the-? AHH! WAIT!" She wailed, jumping into the air in a klutzy fashion before _sonidoing _towards the escaping shinigami.

This cry did not daunt Hitsugaya. Rather, he didn't even hear her. He was too busy trying to run as fast as he could before losing control of the air and falling into the lake below. As if he could be caught by some novice…

**She's gaining on you**. Hyouinmaru pointed out, painfully like the impact of a large icy snowball.

This statement was punctuated by a cero narrowly missing his left shoulder. Annoyed that he was in range, Hitsugaya turned around.

It was either run all the way to Hogwarts and risk testing that barrier Dumbledore had up, or finishing the arrancars here and obtaining information. The latter seemed much more satisfying to him. Especially the "obtaining information" bit.

The approaching arrancar was caught off guard by Hitsugaya's sudden swivel and flew to a stop. Blushing madly under an identical equinine mask, covering only the front of her forehead, she gave a discreet cough. "Um, Mr. shinigami, could you possibly surrender right now? I don't want to hurt you."

Hoping that his eyes weren't rolling, Hitsugaya stared at her in disbelief. "The more I see you arrancars, the less I believe that Aizen created a perfect species..."

The hesitant smile that lingered on the arrancar's face was immediately wiped off. "Don't think so high and mighty of yourself, trash." She hissed.

He blinked.

Her expression transformed again, back to shy. "I-I mean, please don't underestimate me. I, Arryn, arrancar number 653, will do my best to recapture you." Then she suddenly turned hostile again. "You'll be the first to _die_."

_Right, another weird one._ "Captain of the 10th division, Hitsugaya Toushirou." Hitsugaya introduced simply.

Arryn giggled nervously. "_Suerte_! A captain himself…_¡Aplaste, el Caballo de la Muerte!_" Fumbling for her sword, Arryn broke the sheath and blade simultaneously. A sudden fog obscured Hitsugaya's view.

He then felt the incredible rise of reiatsu. And yet, she was really no match for him. The oh-so-_cliché_ fog was swept away much to his relief.

True to her equinine mask, Arryn looked like a cross between a human girl and a horse. Lower half being horse, upper half being of a female. Her blue hair had extended into a long mane and her face was completely covered by a haunting skull. She was holding a ridiculously huge bow in her hand also.

"Your bad luck in facing me, shinigami. Out of my comrades, I am the least merciful!" Arryn shrieked out loud, her voice now annoyingly comparable to the original female he had faced.

"I'm not really interested in your self-rank. I'm more into what you know." Hitsugaya said, disinterested. "Rise upon the frosted heavens, Hyouinmaru!" Feeling the ice sweep into his veins gave him an enormous satisfied feeling. It had been ages since he had released his zanpaktou. Taking advantage of his opponent's momentary shock at experiencing an even stronger reiatsu level, Hitsugaya sent a long flow of ice to Arryn.

She was knocked to the side by the vaguely shaped ice dragon. It immediately encased her with a suffocating shell, letting her give one last choked out scream before plummeting down to the lake below.

_Humph._

And yet Arryn wasn't dead. _Good,_ Hitsugaya thought. _I didn't even get to ask her any questions yet._

A spout of water erupted from the lake, Arryn shot up unscathed, but panting. "That caught me off guard a little...Is that all, boy?" Not waiting to hear Hitsugaya's, no doubt, sarcastic answer, she pulled back the shaft of her bow.

"Where's your arrow?" Hitsugaya called out, sending another Hyouinmaru look alike towards her.

She sneered.

"Right here!" Arryn screamed as a shimmery haze appeared. An arrow suddenly materialized. It fitted itself snugly onto the crossbow and she released it. The projectile made impact with Hitsugaya's dragon, effectively demolishing it.

"Ahahaha!" She let out a bark of triumphant laughter. Hitsugaya sped towards her. It was obvious that long range fighting would not be effective, therefore close range would have to do. He cut her off mid-chuckle with a nasty sword swipe.

It was obvious that close range was not Arryn's strong point. Her face blanched and she quickly retreated, dodging a relentless amount of strikes.

"That's the problem with archery types. They have one strong weakness." Hitsugaya quipped, using shunpo to catch up with the fleeing arrancar. Uncoiling the length of his chain, he sent it towards Arryn. The crescent blade spun wildly, the tip dug itself into her arm, and the rest wound itself tightly around her weapon. She gave a piercing shriek and tried to shake it off.

A large byakurai blast seared her flesh, decimating her weapon. Eyes wide, Arryn yelled in frustration. Hitsugaya responded with slashing her shins. "So, Arrancar, I have some questions for you to answer." He began coolly, indifferent to the blood coating the very tip of his sword.

"Question Number 1, why the hell are you guys here?"

Arryn responded by sending a cero at him. Seeing as Hitsugaya had received various encounters with ceros, her attack did not daunt him. "I asked you a question, are all you arrancars so lacking that you cannot respond?"

It seemed that Arryn was using all her self control to keep her temper in. Especially since, instead of reacting blindly, she turned tail and ran.

A sinuous dragon of ice caught her in the back. Blood spewing dramatically, Arryn fell towards the lake's surface, her eyes wide and hooves thrashing.

**I thought you were going to question her...**Hyouinmaru reprimanded humorously as both watched the body fall.

_I had a feeling that she wouldn't answer._

"Stupefy!"

Hitsugaya had a split second to react. The beam of red light came dangerously near his face before he quickly spun to the left.

He remembered. He finally remembered why those stupid amateurish arrancars had nabbed him in the first place. It couldn't have been because of strength, experience, agility, or even skills.

Belicia, the first arrancar he had met and supposedly decapitated, had an unpleasant smirk on her face. Her hands were empty; she was not holding a wand. And yet, Hitsugaya was sure that the spell had come from her. Like the first time.

_Why...is she using wizard spells?_

Feeling movement underneath him interrupt his thoughts, Hitsugaya looked down. Arryn's body was not floating in the water. It was, in fact, being cradled by her male accomplice. Dark maroon hair and annoyed purple eyes were glaring at Arryn. He then directed them at Hitsugaya. A mask of some sort of reptile constricted his jaw so that Hitsugaya could not see the lips forming the words "Bastard".

"It took you guys long enough." Arryn snapped weakly.

"Shut up, if Belicia wasn't being such a whiner-"

"You mean, if Lusala wasn't such a _woman_."

_They really are novices._ Vexed, Hitsugaya entered a meditative conscience. Targeting Arryn right now was out of the question seeing as she had backup. The other female wasn't a good choice either since she was the one that Hitsugaya really wanted to force answers out of. The male was preoccupied with Arryn therefore...It shouldn't be hard to take on all three. As long as Hitsugaya knocked them out of rhythm, this battle would be easy.

**Use bankai?** Hyouinmaru asked, not at all alarmed with the situation.

Hyouinmaru's apathetic voice steadied Hitsugaya. After all, he had been through worse and that was with stronger opponents. The fact that they were younger and imbeciles was a good thing.

_I don't need bankai for these kids._

With that, Hitsugaya twisted another long ice sculpture, pinpointing the boy, Lusala or whatever his name was.

"Oh come on, Belicia, you're so freaking-" He looked up. And got a face full of ice. Arryn screeched in agony as she once again continued her journey to the lake. Belicia made a move as if to rescue her before Hitsugaya severed her muscle cords in her legs with his hilt chain. Letting out a yell similar to Arryn's she stumbled back, instinctively reaching down to grasp her frozen wounds.

Lusala, however, had turned into an icicle. Knowing that Arryn and Belicia were out for the count, Hitsugaya aimed for him instead.

"Don't."

"Don't."

"UNDERESTIMATE ME!"

Shards of ice dropped causing ripples in the water below.

_Dang, he released._

Considering the last two arrancars he had encountered, the bored 10th squad captain had been expecting another horse. However, this time it was an exaggerated lizard type. Lusala was crouched on all fours, face completely covered with bone, a long powerful-looking tail swishing behind him, and his reiatsu had increased alarmingly.

Nothing Hitsugaya couldn't handle.

"What's wrong shinigami? Are you so afraid that you can't move?" Lusala taunted, lip curling into an all-too-cocky smirk. "It's not like I can blame you though, after all, I am arrancar number 652!" His tail snapped suddenly in the air giving off a loud _crack_. It elongated instantaneously, directing itself towards Hitsugaya.

_So it was a whip._ He skirted the length of dangerous material before shunpoing towards Lusala. The tail immediately recoiled then stretched back out to fend off Hitsugaya. Anticipating this, he staved off the attack and reciprocated with his own hilt chain.

The solid chain consisting of long links and a rather wicked-looking crescent-shaped blade at the end coiled itself tightly around Lusala's tail. Instantly, crystals of frozen water sped quickly up the length of the tail.

Before Lusala could react, Hitsugaya yanked vigorously. Lusala's tail came along with his chain hilt, instigating the arrancar's pained howls.

"Just kidding." Lusals said, cutting off his exaggerated screams. "My tail regenerates, no matter how many times you use your little sword trick, it'll grow back!"

"I can see that."

A powerful blow collided with the back of his head, making him wince as sharp nails dug into his shoulder.

"Don't forget me, _bajo_." Belicia lashed out as a sharp piece of wood dug painfully into his back.

So she did have a wand. Damn.

"Seal his movement, Belicia." Lusala commanded, tail now having undergone a metamorphosis of some sort. Its tip was keener than before and the strange drip-dripping of the liquid smeared across was obviously a poison of some sorts. "We'll stun him and this time we'll take him back all the way to the secret base."

Belicia giggled.

"Hey, what happened to Arryn?"

Hitsugaya blinked. Was he hearing correctly?

The female arrancar shrugged. "She drowned probably."

A weak, irate voice called from beneath. "I did not!"

Lusala let out a laugh, Belicia chiming in with her high-pitched squeals. "You always did suck at swimming." He said jovially.

"Seeing as I'm a _centaur_, it's a wonder that I'm able to stay afloat." Arryn yelled sarcastically.

Belicia again laughed, impulsively relaxing her grip on Hitsugaya.

_Bad move._ Hitsugaya knocked her back with a flare of reiatsu. He concentrated, this next move was sure to wipe out both, if not all.

"Fuc-!" Lusala cursed before Belicia slammed into him, cutting off his breath and making him lurch precariously. Having tossed aside his annoying kidnapper, Hitsugaya descended towards the lake's surface with speed.

"Cruciatus!" Belicia shrieked, waving her wand wildly. Lusala followed Hitsugaya instead, tail lashing out at arbitrary moments.

Instincts taking over, Hitsugaya moved to the right, a close call, seeing as he felt the brush of air pass his shoulder. The tail was easier to avoid, Lusala had let his anger take over, hence the random movements.

Sweeping over the opaque waters, Hitsugaya finally came to a stop near Arryn's flailing body.

"What?" She gasped out; swimming obviously took a lot out of her.

Hitsugaya ignored the girl, instead looking up at his two pursuers. _A little closer._

They were nearer.

_More_!

They were at level with the surface of the lake, incensed and at the height of their predatory impulses.

Lusala reared his tail back and Belicia readied her wand. The wound on her legs however, thudded with agony. She hissed softly, attracting the attention of Lusala. He took a quick second to glance at her worriedly.

A second was all Hitsugaya needed really. He had to thank Belicia after for giving him this chance. That is, if she was still alive.

The temperature of the atmosphere dropped, cold tempestuous gusts of wind attacked the quartet furiously, and the original level of power that had emanated from Hitsugaya became bounteous.

Feeling a cold sensation wrap around her body, Arryn paused in her paddling and looked down. The water surrounding her had iced over completely. Her movements were restricted by a solid semi-circle.

"The hell?" She whispered, fear taking over her voice. The rest of the liquid water, not yet frozen, swirled once ominously.

The water was then sucked in once, like a massive drain, before discharging in a shower of geysers. Lusala and Belicia looked blankly at the impending danger. Then shock and the sheer will to escape the multi-behemoths spurred Lusala and Belicia on. Both rapidly climbed the skies, each trying to outdistance the other in order to escape. Any thoughts on rescuing their stuck comrade disappeared as the water threatened to engulf them.

Hitsugaya watched underneath them, posture calm and cool, eyes flickering dispassionately as the arrancars fled.

The speed of the water increased and the jaw of the dragon swallowed both arrancars.

On having been consumed, the makeshift dragon turned into a great glacier of ice and shattered.

Arryn stared with inscrutable eyes as hail came into contact with her face. Her expression, dull with consternation, watched as the pieces of her partners tumbled into the lake.

Breathing heavily, Hitsugaya turned away. Granted, that move had taken a lot of energy from him. He usually needed to go into his bankai state before issuing that move. However, the fact that there was a supply of water available to him and that he didn't need to draw it out of air, enabled him to use it.

Initially, Hitsugaya had thought of also executing Arryn along with her chums, but thought against it. He had questions to ask and answers to demand of.

"Why were you guys sent here?"

Still traumatized, Arryn turned her head slowly to gaze at Hitsugaya with her listless face.

Impatient, Hitsugaya tried again. "How did your friend acquire a wand? And how is she capable of producing spells?"

Reticence greeted him.

_This is getting us nowhere fast._ He thought irascibly.

Last try. "What is Aizen's objective here?"

Hitsugaya was startled as a reaction flew across Arryn like a shockwave. "Arry…" She started as if in a trance. "He was right, we were nothing without Aizen…but we wanted to find Arry…and he even taught us spells…Belicia was the best among us though, spells are weak…"

She was babbling like a faucet no one was bothering to turn off. "Lusala didn't trust him…Belicia never noticed…that man…I should've killed him…it doesn't matter anymore…Lusala is gone…Belicia is gone…and that man is gone…and I couldn't find Arry-"

Huge wracking sobs erupted from her small frame, alarming Hitsugaya. Arryn was still speaking, but it was hard to understand on account of her hiccups and wails. Disgusted by her lack of self-control, Toushirou shook his head once.

"I don't understand. Who are you talking about?"

Hysterical, Arryn bawled and struggled relentlessly from her bonds.

**She's under shock; you won't be able to get any more information.** Hyouinmaru murmured.

Solemnly, Hitsugaya gripped his sword and drew it level, its position vertical to her face. "Join your comrades, arrancar." The cold blade punctured her mask, dividing her face in half.

The ice holding her prisoner vanished, leaving the water to swallow up the corpse. Hitsugaya wasn't unduly worried. The body would disappear before it contaminated the lake. Sheathing his zanpaktou, Hitsugaya started the weary journey back to the castle.

---

Harry was dreaming.

The familiar long corridor that had been haunting him ever since the start of the summer was now visible. The door at the end flickered weakly. Aroused by his perpetual excitement, Harry set off, a single hand raised in front of him in order to grasp the doorknob.

Almost…there!

The cold metal of the knob alerted his senses and caused his heart to thud conspicuously against his robes. Fingers gripping the polished metal, Harry turned and pulled open the door.

A burst of bright sunlight buffered his face, causing him to recant for a split second. The sound of slow breathing accosted his ears, making him blink slowly. As his eyelids retreated, Harry saw the prone body lying on the floor before him.

Cautiously, but bravely, Harry bent down and wiped the snow from the person's face. An impetuous blast of cold wind hit him before he could identify the person's facial features. Then he was falling into a bottomless chasm…

Harry's eyes opened. Blearily, he reached for his glasses and carefully put them on. He searched for the source of cold air that had so rudely woken him from sleep. The sliver in his curtains was small, but large enough for him to recognize a coiffure of white hair.

More alert now that Harry realized that it was Hitsugaya, he carefully peered out from the recess of his bed.

Hitsugaya moved slowly, as if dead tired. What he could've been doing to reach that condition of exhaustion, Harry was confounded. Emboldened, he leaned forward to watch more closely and his bed creaked.

The head of white hair whipped around and light-up green eyes glowed with suspicion. Caught off guard, Harry retreated hastily into his sheets; cringing as more creaks and squawks issued, and tried to stay as still as possible.

Silence then an amused chuckle.

Heat raced uncomfortably up his neck and face, and Harry screwed his eyes shut, mortified. He slowly pulled off his glasses, fist tight over them, not daring to move and put them on the dresser. Instead, he could feel sleep coming over him again and went back to dreamland.

Hitsugaya waited until he could hear complete silence from Harry's compartment. A feeling that he had fallen asleep, Hitsugaya changed quickly before retiring for the night.

---

_A few minutes earlier…_

"Aw man, why did we have to leave?" Matsumoto whined as the small group trotted down the corridor of the _senkaimon_.

Hanatarou gave her a nervous look. "Ano, Matsumoto-fuku taichou, you and Kusajishi-fuku taichou never received any permission to visit Hitsugaya-taichou in the first place; therefore we have to return at once."

"I know, but couldn't we have stayed a few days longer?" She complained. Madarame snorted. "Well then, Rangiku-san, be our guest and go back to that freaky English place. I'd like to remind you though, that Hitsugaya-taichou will be right there ready to kick you back."

Yachiru gave a small whimper as she clutched Ikkaku's sleeve. "He didn't even give me any candy!" She wailed annoyingly. "All he did was yell at us!"

_Which I am grateful for._ Hanatarou thought privately. He had, to be truthful, been expecting an extremely harsh punishment.

"Plus, you have a report to make." Ikkaku reminded causing Matsumoto to scowl.

"Cheer up, Rangiku-chan. All we need is permission to come back again!" Yachiru chirped, momentarily forgetting her sadness over lack of sweets.

Matsumoto's face was still sullen. "I can't imagine any captain giving us their permission to go back to Hitsugaya-taichou."

"Ken-chan will! He'll give me anything!" Yachiru replied, giggling manipulatively.

Ikkaku paled. "No-no way Kusajishi-san, there's no way that Zaraki-taichou will agree." And yet, why was there a lingering doubt that the 11th squad captain would most certainly will?

Both Yachiru and Matsumoto ignored him. "You're right Yachiru-chan!" She squealed happily. "We'll be back with Hitsugaya-taichou quite soon. Hogwarts hasn't seen the last of us!"

Laughing maniacally, the female shinigami exited the _senkaimon_ with a scared Hanatarou and reluctant Ikkaku trailing behind."

---

Somewhere, a little white-haired captain shivered in his sleep.

---

_AND SO ENDS THE FILLER! Finally! Sorry that you had to go through some OC appearances, at least you could see Hitsugaya pwn right? I wanted to get rid of them fast as possible, in order to get to the nitty-gritty. Thank you Master Keto and kinichi for your OCs. I hope that you're not disappointed or angry that both Arryn and Lusala went through such a sad end. Next chapter will definitely have more Harry and Co. _

_No more other shinigami cameos for a couple of chapters, until I feel that I can handle another one. The wait was long due to my sickness and the work. Plus, there hasn't been much Hitsugaya stuff in the anime or the manga to inspire me. However the upcoming movie and the special Hitsugaya manga chapter helped me. Thanks to my readers and Tite Kubo, Fireyflames._


	17. The Floating Head

**The Muggle with White Hair**

**NOTE**: _I am no way copying any other BLEACHHP fics out there. Have fun reading, eating, flaming, criticizing! Also, this story takes place during the Order of the Phoenix arc._

Chapter 17: The Floating Head

"Is Hetsugellia still sleeping?" A loud, brash voice suddenly asked.

_Not anymore._ Hitsugaya thought in reply, annoyed and still tired.

"Shh! You'll wake him up!" Someone nervously admonished.

Realizing that further sleep was now futile, Hitsugaya's eyes flashed open. The person leaning over him squealed and fell back with surprise.

He sat up, casting glances at the white-faced Neville and startled Ron. "...What time is it?" Hitsugaya inquired, twisting his back so he could look at the horizon. Clocks were a luxury in Soul Society and he wasn't used to their loud, ringing noise. The sky was sufficient in telling time. And it didn't need batteries.

"Good thing you woke up in time!" Ron guffawed a little too loudly, cuffing Hitsugaya on the back. "You're going to miss breakfast if you stay in bed."

_What? What time is-dangit._ Hitsugaya cleared the sheets off his legs and jumped gracefully to the floor. He, after all, did not _leap_. Both Ron and Neville left the room to give Hitsugaya some privacy, Ron calling after that they would wait in the Common Room.

Unused to such friendliness, Hitsugaya debated on whether to just run past them or to walk with them. He hadn't "walked" with anyone in a long while. Matsumoto always trailed behind draining the dregs of her sake bottles, Hinamori was always a few steps in front of him whenever they were traveling, and everyone else was either too busy or too intimidated to even be in his company.

Not that he enjoyed being with young people. Honestly, he was disturbed to know that he was, once upon a time, that stupid.

Ron immediately perked up as Hitsugaya grudgingly entered the room. "You took your time." He joked. "I don't recall asking you to wait for me." Hitsugaya replied coldly. Neville winced and glanced worriedly at Ron. However, the red-haired boy looked unfazed. "Let's head down or we'll really be late."

Seeing as he had no choice, Hitsugaya gave a silent sigh before following both boys out of the Common Room. Ron said nothing, too intent on getting to breakfast. Hitsugaya would never talk first unless it was in his interest. Neville made some stabs at conversation, talking about the weather or random wizardry subjects. He finally realized that no one was bothering to respond back so he retreated in embarrassment.

Harry and Hermione welcomed the trio to the table, Hermione throwing a welcoming smile towards Hitsugaya. He winced mentally.

"Morning Hetsugellia," Hermione chirped a little too loudly. Harry gave a nod.

"Morning." Hitsugaya muttered back, still uncomfortable. The pause was interrupted with the loud squealing of Ron's chair being dragged forward. "Hey Harry, is there Quidditch practice today?" He stopped mid-sentence and threw a quick look at Hitsugaya.

Hitsugaya sighed. It seemed that Ron was still convinced that he had cheated Hitsugaya out of the goalkeeper position. _I wonder when he'll realize that I could care less..._

"Schedules!" Hermione trilled out nervously, thrusting a piece of paper and knocking Hitsugaya's goblet of water accidentally.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean-"

"Nice, Hermione..." Ron murmured under his breath. He was elbowed roughly by Harry as Hermione shot both of them dirty looks.

She turned quickly back to Hitsugaya. He looked at the pool of water soaking into his robes and sighed, this time audibly. Hermione's expression turned puce. "I'm really sorry; I'll get you some more water."

He stood up instead, out of Hermione's arm length (just in case she would spill his porridge next). "It's alright," Hitsugaya said stiffly. "I'm going to class."

And he left, leaving the disappointed trio behind him.

------

Today's classes were a blur for Hitsugaya, he was steadily recovering from yesterday's battle, but still felt as if several bludgers were smashing around in his head.

His robes were no longer water soaked, a simple incantation had dried them out. _At least it hadn't been orange juice..._

In truth, Hitsugaya had been avoiding Harry and his friends the whole afternoon. They were being overfriendly with him, saving him seats, defending him from people who liked to pick on his hair, etc. Hermione had been the worst. She was obviously used to "making friends" and made way too many chummy gestures like surreptitiously showing him her notes and whispering answers to Umbridge's demanding questions. As if he was an idiot.

He didn't need friends in the real world. Too much of a hassle. They would all forget in the end anyway.

"Gryffindors are losers! Gryffindors are losers! Move, loser!" A burly gorilla-looking boy shouted, Slytherin by way of his dark green robes. He barreled towards Hitsugaya purposefully.

Annoyed, Toushirou shifted to the right, letting the Slytherin smash into a stone pillar. The boy collapsed at once, blood spouting from his nose. Hitsugaya rolled his eyes and made move to leave when something caught his eye.

Movement.

Behind the stone pillar.

Tensing, Hitsugaya took a few cautious steps forward. If it was Peeves he was going to invest in Kidou.

"Mrawr..." A skinny, gray cat with large bulbous yellow eyes slunk out. Its back was arched slightly and a wiry tail swished slowly behind her. It padded forward slowly, pinning down Hitsugaya with a keen stare.

He frowned. Where had he seen this cat before? He sifted in his memories quickly, finally settling down on his first day of classes...when Argus Filch had found him wandering, lost, in the hallways.

Realization dawned. "You're Filch's cat." He stated, but Mrs. Norris was gone. Something told him to get lost. Fast.

"Ah ha! Fighting in the hallways, eh?" Argus Filch snapped, a greedy expression on his face. He had popped through a random door in the hall, almost startling Hitsugaya. The old, hobbling caretaker threw a quick cursory glance at the sprawled out Slytherin, taking note of the blood trickling onto his green robes. His smile grew larger. "Infraction number 134. Physical fighting is banned from the halls of Hogwarts." Filch stated, as if having memorized the whole handbook. Which he probably had.

Hitsugaya frowned. "I didn't even touch him." He responded coolly. Filch stalked towards him and grabbed his arm, his bony fingers digging into his flesh. "What shall we do with you?" He said, almost lovingly to Mrs.Norris.

_Let go of my arm or I'll..._

"Detention!" Filch squealed, grip still firm on Hitsugaya's arm. "Let's report you to Professor McGonagall first, then get some house points deducted, and of course some clean up duty..." The rest was unintelligible, excited mutterings.

Raising a single white eyebrow, Hitsugaya glanced at Filch. "I really don't have time to serve detention." Filch continued dragging him anyway, not listening.

Annoyed, Hitsugaya whipped out his memory modifier and shoved it into Filch's face. The smoke that billowed out obscured Filch's vision causing him to shock and sputter indignantly. He reeled back dramatically, hands sweeping the cloud of dust away from his mouth and eyes. Taking advantage of this distraction, Hitsugaya quickly ran down the hall, leaving a yowling Mrs. Norris and a confused Filch behind him.

----

After that small incident, nothing of any remote importance happened during Hitsugaya's boring day.

At least not yet.

Everyone was still at the Dining hall, stuffing their faces with some much needed brain food. Hitsugaya had laid claim to the squishiest armchair in the common room, not too near the fire of course, but just near enough so he could feel relatively warm.

A few pieces of crumpled parchment were draped over the arms, an inkwell tottering precariously on the worn fabric. A school book occupied Hitsugaya's lap; a quill balanced on his fingers.

He had forgotten about the problems of homework. The last time he had homework was a couple hundred years ago. However, it was disgustingly similar to paperwork. Methodically, Hitsugaya wrote another line of messy English onto the paper. It still felt slightly strange handling a quill instead of a brush.

Squeezing the quill as if it was its fault that he was repeating the school year, Hitsugaya glanced at the next question.

_"Plot the position of Jupiter if the star, Cassiopeia, is at a 45 degree angle towards the sun and-"_

"Oh for the love of-" The oh-so-familiar feeling of stress came down onto him savagely, he dropped the quill, and leaned forward with his fingers kneading his forehead. What he would do for a good cup of green tea...Hitsugaya whipped out an arm in annoyance, knocking over his inkwell in the process. He winced as it landed with a soft thump, the carpets absorbing the noise as well as the black ink.

He lurched to his feet, throwing a blank look at the ink, before heaving another sigh. _Time to get some paper towels._ It had never occurred to Toushirou that he had a wand readily available to him.

Spotting a rectangular box on the fireplace with some tissue poking out of its slit, Hitsugaya walked towards the roaring fire. His eyes were glazed; he wasn't really taking in his surroundings.

That's when he saw the barest glimmer of a face peering out at him.

Hitsugaya halted, registering a double take. This time, his senses were on as he glared at the fire. Did he just see a _face_?

Having learned that it didn't do to ignore those strange prickly feelings that raced up and down his back, he took a large step and squinted directly at the flames. He could've sworn that he saw a blurred shape of a face with long lanky black hair.

Pressing his knees against the carpet, Hitsugaya gave another stare at the flickering, dancing streaks of fire. Trying to ignore the pain they were inflicting in his eyes, he patiently stared.

He had seen a face. No way was it just his imagination. Besides, he never imagined these sorts of freaky things. Neither was he overstressed. Stress had never taken its toll on him; Hitsugaya had always been ready for the inadvertent Hollow warning. Therefore, the face that he had just seen in the fireplace was not a symptom of his increasing risk of insanity.

It had to be something else.

_What if it was an arrancar? _Hitsugaya immediately dismissed the thought. He would have felt an arrancar aura for miles around.

_It could be some weird wizard thing..._For some reason, Hitsugaya brushed that thought away too. If it was normal for wizards to pop in random fireplaces then Dumbledore would have told him. Or would he? The headmaster was absent ever since his subordinate's gatecrash. Dumbledore might've forgotten to mention it.

_Then what?_

The minutes ticked by. Hitsugaya stared at the incandescent flames until his eyes felt the urge to look at anywhere but at the fireplace. He groggily looked away; already spots of black were invading his vision.

Maybe it was his imagination...

No, he refused to believe so. Being instated as the captain of the tenth squad meant no weird freakish, abnormal, hallucinations. Therefore it being his imagination was out.

Hitsugaya turned back resentfully, ready for another staring contest with the mocking conflagration. So far, it was winning.

The door of the Common room swung open and a couple of giggly first-year girls frolicked in. One shrieked suddenly on upon seeing Hitsugaya sprawled on his belly glaring at the fireplace. The other girls quickly tiptoed across the floor, staring at him openly, whispering, before breaking into a run up the stairs to their dormitories.

Realizing what an idiot he was being, Hitsugaya propelled himself to a standing position. His muscles ached, adding to his already sour mood. To _seireitei_ with the fire, he had homework to do. Ignoring the damp patch of ink he had conveniently forgotten to clean up, Hitsugaya gathered his quill, papers, and his book and walked away.

"Way of Destruction, Douse."

A small rain cloud appeared in the fireplace, drops effectively quenching the fire.

Hitsugaya let a small smirk escape before pounding his way upstairs to his dormitory.

---

He had almost fallen asleep on his book; a small print of ink words was sloshed messily on his cheek. Hitsugaya rubbed at it irritably, this wasn't the first time ink somehow ended up on his skin.

Casting a look at the dark sky, Hitsugaya crawled out of his bed, careful not to tread on squeaky places on his mattress. Wriggling out, he touched the warm floor with his bare feet and shuddered. The room was too warm, too stuffy. Time to get a breather.

He padded down the stairs with grace and silence only a captain could possess.

"Sirius!"

Hitsugaya jumped, catching himself before he fell down the stairs. Pressing himself quickly at the wall, he peered over.

Hermione had her hands clapped over her mouth, Ron was scrabbling for his dropped quill, and Harry...was sitting. (Hitsugaya couldn't catch his expression). All three were situated around the fireplace where a fire was crackling merrily. Hitsugaya frowned. He was certain that he had put the fire out a few hours ago.

Then he saw the face.

Shocked and a little triumphant (so it wasn't his imagination!), Hitsugaya rummaged for a soul pill. He couldn't see anything clearly from his position at the staircase.

Swallowing the candy, he felt the bonds of his physical body release him. Hitsugaya immediately shushed his gigai (who looked surprised to find itself in a dark staircase) and rushed towards the fire.

He stopped next to Harry who was laughing over a joke. Surprised that he wasn't screaming his head off, Hitsugaya studied Harry's facial expression. Instead of frightened, Harry looked downright pleased to see a face floating in the fire. Ron and Hermione too, had adopted comfortable, curious appearances. It was as if the initial shock had faded away to reveal enthusiasm.

Wizards were weird. Hitsugaya shook his head before studying the head. It was a middle-aged man, with long black hair covering sharp cheekbones and gaunt, hollowed cheeks. He had the air of having been mistreated in the past and not having recovered enough.

"Well, I think a girl-first year by the look of her- might've got a glimpse of me earlier, but don't worry, I was gone the moment she looked back at me." The head spoke.

So the head could talk. Interesting.

"But Sirius, this is taking an awful risk-" Hermione started.

"You sound like Molly. Besides, only one other person saw me. Some strange bloke with, I think, white hair. Sound familiar?"

Hermione, Ron, and Harry exchanged looks with each other. Hitsugaya looked on with slight interest, so the head had seen him too.

"Hetsugellia." Hermione murmured worriedly. 'Sirius' glanced at her. "Hetsu-what? What kind of name is that? Is this bloke foreign?"

_Better sounding than Sirius._ Hitsugaya thought to himself, fed up with the amount of people poking at his identity.

"He's really sharp Sirius. He might get suspicious if he saw you in the fire. Nothing escapes his attention." Ron put in, sounding a little awed about Hitsugaya's fantasized abilities.

Sirius snorted. "Sounds like a prat to me."

_Yeah, and you look like-_ Hitsugaya chose a few choice Japanese words to describe Sirius.

"Speaking about Hetsugellia," Hermione began. "Sirius, is he in the Order?"

Sirius stared at her. "Not that I know of. I've never seen white hair freaks at the meetings, ever."

Hermione frowned, "Are you sure? I mean, he knows about the Order."

"Trust me Hermione, I'm at the Grimmauld place long enough to know who comes regularly to the meetings." Sirius said, a note of bitterness in his voice.

Hermione flushed.

"It's probably nothing." Harry quickly interjected. "Anyway Sirius, did you get my letter?"

Ron and Hermione threw him looks that clearly said what-letter?

Hitsugaya also wanted to know what kind of letter Harry could be sending to a person who seemed to have nothing to do in his spare time other than to play in fireplaces.

"Yes, I got it. Nice code by the way. Anyway, we'd better be quick, just in case we're disturbed- your scar."

Both Ron and Hitsugaya were confused. Only that Ron expressed his confusion vocally. "What about-?" but was hastily interrupted by Hermione.

"Well, I know it can't be fun when it hurts, but we don't think it's anything to worry about. It kept aching all last year, didn't it?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, and Dumbledore said it happened whenever Voldemort was feeling a powerful emotion. So maybe he was just, I dunno, really angry or something the night I had that detention. Not to mention the quill exploded in my face."

Hitsugaya gave a discreet cough. Other than that, he recognized the name Voldemort. _Who was he again? Oh right, a murderous wizard...or something..._

"Well now he's back it's bound to hurt more often. The quill probably exploded because you couldn't keep your temper in Harry." Sirius pointed out.

"So you don't think it had anything to do with Umbridge?"

"I doubt it. I know her by reputation and I'm sure she's no death eater-"

"She's foul enough to be one." Harry interrupted. Hitsugaya would've felt inclined to agree, if he knew what the term, Death Eater, meant.

"Yes, but the world isn't split into good people Death Eaters. I know she's a nasty piece of work, though- you should hear Remus talk about her."

Another person left unidentified, Hitsugaya thought frustrated. He really needed this to be cleared up.

**Then why don't you befriend the children?** Hyouinmaru suggested suddenly, a blast of freezing air entering his body. Hitsugaya relaxed, that felt good.

_Befriend? And do what? Hang out with them? Do homework with them?_ Hitsugaya thought scathingly back. He felt Hyouinmaru's annoyed response rumble back at him.

**Your confusion will be cleared up. You're supposed to be taking care of the Harry-kun anyway. Might as well get something out of it.**

_True,_ Hitsugaya admitted resentfully. _This doesn't mean that we're turning into bestest buddies or anything though._

Hyouinmaru replied with an amused chuckle.

"So what are Umbridge's lessons like? Is she training you all to kill half-breeds?" Sirius suddenly said, bringing Toushirou back to the conversation.

"No, she's not letting us use magic at all!" Harry complained.

"All we do is read the stupid textbook." Ron added.

"Ah, well, that figures. Our information from inside the Ministry is that Fudge doesn't want you trained in combat."

"Trained in combat? What does he think we're doing here, forming some sort of wizard army?" Harry sputtered out, incredulously.

"That's exactly what he thinks you're doing, or rather, that's exactly what he's afraid Dumbledore's doing-forming his own private army, with which he will be able to take on the ministry of Magic."

Pause.

Hitsugaya's mind went briefly to his initial impression of Dumbledore and concluded that he was the least-militaristic man he had ever encountered. Besides, armies weren't built in a day. _Whoever this Fudge person is, he's making a mistake. A stupid mistake._ Hitsugaya stated. Hogwarts was the least likely place to produce soldiers hardened for war and fighting. Some threw up at the sight of blood (like Bigbottom). How in the world would one expect them to extinguish lives and revolt against their own government?

Apparently, the prime minister hadn't thought this through like Hitsugaya had. Rolling his eyes, Hitsugaya turned back just in time to see Sirius disappear with a pop.

_Dangit. I missed everything_.

Ron and Harry immediately started discussing the matter with each other, voicing disbelief. Hermione pulled out some mutated looking cotton and joined in the conversation skeptically.

Realizing that there wasn't any more information to fish for, Hitsugaya returned to the staircase. He nudged his gigai awake, entered the body, pocketed the soul candy, and walked up the stairs.

**Remember your plan,** Hyouinmaru spoke, sending bits of mentally-shaped ice in Hitsugaya's consciousness as he crawled onto his bed.

_Yeah, yeah. Be friendly._

Hitsugaya lay in his bed for a few silent minutes, letting his thoughts shift and organize themselves. A sudden yelp and bursts of laughter floated up to him from the Common room.

He groaned and muffled himself with a pillow.

---

_Yes. There were midterms. There was also lack of inspiration and Tite Kubo's vacation didn't help. Glares And the fact that I have to wait till September to watch the movie is KILLING ME! Anyway, I'm not dead and I'm certainly not RIP. xD Thanks for reviewing everyone!! FireyFlames._


	18. Smile!

**The Muggle with White Hair**

**NOTE**: _I am no way copying any other BLEACHHP fics out there. Have fun reading, eating, flaming, criticizing! Also, this story takes place during the Order of the Phoenix arc._

Chapter 18: Smile! 

Hitsugaya stared blankly at his twin in Neville's large floor-length mirror. Twin being his reflection obviously. The deep bags that had hung under his eyelids were gradually fading, his white hair was stiff and white as usual, and his scowl wasn't so pronounced. He actually looked a little less intimidating than usual.

A little bit heartened by his appearance, Hitsugaya leaned forward, nose-to-nose with his reflection and gently worked the upper corners of his mouth. It was definitely a strange feeling; his mouth muscles were stiff from lack of use. After shrugging his shoulders and rolling his jaw several times, Hitsugaya finally paused.

He quickly reached for the book he had secretly (in a ninja-like fashion) borrowed from the Hogwarts library and flipped to one of the many dog-eared pages. Absently smoothing out the fold, he read over the contents.

_Muscles involved in a "zygomatic" smile._

_Zygomaticus major and minor. These bilateral muscles pull up the corners of the mouth._

_Orbicularis oculi. One of these muscles encircles each eye and causes crinkling._

Hitsugaya snapped the book shut with a little more force than necessary. _Why is smiling so complicated?_ He wondered, his once-lightened mood darkening._Actually, why am I even trying?_

**You said that you would make the effort.**

Hitsugaya frowned in disgust. _Why is frowning so much easier than smiling? Matsumoto keeps on saying that more muscles are used to frown than to smile...Then again, why do I even trust her word on it..._

He took a cursory glance around the room. The rest of his roommates had already left the dormitory after Hitsugaya's curt dismissal, leaving the white-haired captain alone. He'd be crazy to let them see him_practice_ smiling.

Taking another vague attempt at smiling again, Hitsugaya glanced at the mirror. _That's enough for today_...Hitsugaya thought, as his face produced another grimace. _Smiling wasn't a skill I needed on my resume for the 13 protection squads. I can still be friendly without it._

_I think._

And with that thought, Hitsugaya left for the Great Hall.

--

The white-haired captain immediately took note of the sour mood lingering over the table. Harry and Hermione looked extremely put out about something, both conversing with each other angrily. Ron had a similar look of disagreement on his face.

"I can't believe this. It's _outrageous_..." Hermione hissed venomously as Hitsugaya sat down. A little bit taken aback, he gave her a raised eyebrow. She blushed in embarrassment.

"Good morning Hetsugellia." She greeted quickly in order to save face. "You've woken up just in time for the last hot cakes!" Insert apprehensive smile here.

Instead of flashing a thankful smile, Hitsugaya gave an attempted sort of twist of a grin, which could be interpreted as "I'm really grateful," or "I'd like to run you through with this fork I have in my hand."

Apparently Hermione took the latter meaning. She pushed the hot cakes plate towards him nervously, wondering what in the world she had done. As she touched the ceramic plate, the newspaper scrolled up in her hand landed into the dish, edges engulfed in syrup. Hitsugaya sighed, fishing the newspaper out of his breakfast. He was beginning to see a pattern here, what with things falling into his food.

He ran a lazy glance across the front page, briefly seeing Umbridge's face sneering up at him before handing it back to Hermione.

_Wait a minute..._

Hermione noticed Hitsugaya's startled face as he paused, newspaper still in his hand. "I guess you saw the news too," Hermione sighed. "Professor Umbridge was just granted a position called High Inquisitor."

"A load of bull," Harry interjected loudly, almost spilling water again into Hitsugaya's lap. "The Ministry just created the position so that she can stick her noses into the other teachers businesses."

Running his eyes over the newspaper article once more, Hitsugaya took care to note the bright bold headline and the paragraph where the majority of the comments pertained to Dumbledore. Many of them were critical and did not cast the headmaster into a good light. Frowning, Hitsugaya spotted a particular comment;

"'_I think the appointment of the Inquisitor is a first step toward ensuring that Hogwarts has a headmaster in whom we can all repose confidence,' said a Ministry insider last night."_

"Repose confidence..." Hitsugaya murmured to himself. In other words, to observe and place Dumbledore under security for the Ministry's benefit. _Clever..._

Another accidental nudge on his arm brought him from his thoughts; Harry was shoveling hot cakes into his mouth angrily. Hitsugaya handed the newspaper back to Hermione who gave another gusty sigh before putting it away.

Maybe this was a good time to smile. To lighten the mood or something...

Hitsugaya gave a half-hearted smile.

Both Harry and Hermione stared at him as if he had just driven his fork through Ron's arm. "What?" They asked at the same time.

Caught off-guard, Hitsugaya blinked stupidly. "Uh..."

"Hetsugellia probably can't wait to see McGonagall's inspection," Ron interrupted, grinning like an idiot. "Umbridge won't know what's hit her."

_Saved!_

**By the Weasley.**

_Oh._

"Well, come on. We'd better get going, if she's inspecting Binns's class we don't want to be late..." Hermione stated, getting to her feet. The trio cleared their place and left the table.

Hitsugaya sighed. Maybe he should take a rain check on smiling for now. It obviously had no effect on Harry and company.

Ron paused and swung around; one hand raised casually, "Hurry up Hetsugellia!"

Toushirou blinked for a few moments. Was the Weasley talking to him? Then again, who else's name was called Hetsugellia? Feeling his spirits lifting, Hitsugaya deliberately walked over to them at a slow pace so as to not look_eager_ or anything.

Maybe the smiling worked.

He flashed a quick, hopefully thankful, grin at Ron.

"What's wrong Hetsugellia? You have a tummy ache or something?"

_Okay. Dropping the smiles. Now._

--

History of Magic was incredibly boring as always. Especially since Umbridge wasn't hanging around the class to "inspect". Potions class ended with Snape being a sadist (then again, when was he not?). At least Hitsugaya had gotten an "A" on his moonstone essay.

"So after E, it's A for 'Acceptable', and that's the last pass grade, isn't it?" Hermione asked. The group along with the Weasley twins, much to Hitsugaya's chagrin, was seated back at the Great Hall, this time eating lunch.

Hitsugaya came to the conclusion that Hermione was one of those students that were obsessed with their academic grades. He had encountered a lot of those types in the Shinigami Academy. They were usually the first ones to be killed at a reconnaissance mission. Experience prevailed over insignificant letters.

"Then get P for 'Poor' and D for 'Dreadful'." Ron finished, raising his arms as a signal that he had gotten a Poor.

Feeling Harry cough suspiciously at the letter 'D', Hitsugaya cut in. "There's no sense to worry about grades. Letters on pieces of paper are useless. They won't save you in a dire situation or give you strength in a middle of a battle."

Everyone looked at him with surprise.

Harry agreed with him silently, making him wonder which terrible grade prompted Hitsugaya to speak up in defense.

"I wonder what Heksu got then," Fred teased, breaking the solemn atmosphere. "T for troll?" George said mockingly.

Giving them an annoyed look, (honestly, why did he even bother?), Hitsugaya went back to his lunch.

--

"We shall be continuing our study of prophetic dreams today. Divide into pairs, please, and interpret each other's latest nighttime visions with the aid of the _Oracle_." Trelawney instructed, voice not only pathetically mystical, but also irritated.

Umbridge squeaked her quill. She gave a poor attempt at an apologetic smile before returning to her clipboard.

Perhaps that was the reason why. Hitsugaya observed as Umbridge finally rose from her seat and started interrogating random students.

"Hetsugellia, tell me about a dream, quick!" Harry muttered, nudging him in the ribs. Distracted, Hitsugaya turned back to the assignment. "I dreamed that everyone in Hogwarts was massacred."

Ron and Harry gave him startled glances.

_Err..._"But was resurrected by a magical quill." Hitsugaya finished lamely. Ron chuckled and Harry went back to staring at Umbridge's progress across the room. "Okay, we've got to add your age to the date you had the dream, the number of letters in the subject...would that be 'quill'?"

"It doesn't matter, look busy!" Harry said quickly. Ron turned to Hitsugaya who was also staring thoughtfully at Umbridge. "What night did you dream this again?" Ron asked, scribbling something unintelligible on a piece of parchment.

_...I didn't even dream it..._"Last night." Hitsugaya answered. Taking another quick glance at Trelawney and Umbridge, he took notice of Trelawney's exacerbated mood and Umbridge's ever-squeaking quill. Realizing that they were soon approaching, he turned back to Ron's fevered calculations.

Dipping the point of his quill into Harry's inkwell, (his own having run out of ink last night), Hitsugaya started writing about a random dream into his diary. Immersed in his applications, he started the long grueling process of divining the dream he had sporadically written.

In fact, Hitsugaya was so intent on filling the rest of his pages with made up dreams that he didn't notice the end of Umbridge and Trelawney's conversation until Professor Trelawney herself swooped down at him.

"Well? Let me see the start you've made on your dream diary, please." She snapped angrily. After she finished explaining that he would basically have no success in his life while also dying a gruesome death in about twenty different ways, Hitsugaya felt ready to slam his diary into her face.

Instead, he snatched it back from her, and watched slightly pityingly as Trelawney started to harp on Harry.

If Trelawney was in such a bad mood that had to mean that...

--

Yep, Umbridge was smiling. _How could she do it?_ Hitsugaya thought darkly to himself. _A woman as fake as Umbridge herself...how can she smile so easily?_ The fact that she could actually _do_ it without grimacing was what made Hitsugaya mad.

Nevertheless, at least he didn't look that obscene when smiling. _I think..._

"Wands away. As we finished chapter one last lesson, I would like you all to turn to page nineteen today and commence chapter two, 'Common Defensive Theories and Their Derivation.' There will be no need to talk." Umbridge gave another large smile before turning back to her cardigan sweater.

Rolling his eyes mentally, Hitsugaya opened the book and flipped to the appropriate page. Feeling his brain unwillingly concentrate on the small letters before him, he steeled himself not to fall asleep or to get distracted by the contents of the chapter.

"_Defensive theories, defensive defined as made or carried on for the purpose of resisting attack, theories defined as a coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena-_"

**Dull.** Hyouinmaru murmured, bored and discontented tone echoing in Hitsugaya's subconscious.

Before being able to refocus on Slinkhard's extremely tedious explanations, Hermione's loud voice carried over and broke the fog.

"Yes, I do. Mr.Slinkhard doesn't like jinxes, does he? But I think they can be very useful when they're used defensively." Apparently, Hermione was arguing with Umbridge about the lesson again. _It's not worth it to argue over Slinkhard._ Hitsugaya thought, turning back to the aforementioned.

He was adamant on not getting into any trouble with Umbridge, as much as he hated it, Hitsugaya was going to sit there and read the book like a good student.

Plus he had to make another call to Soul Society. The sooner the class ended, the better.

A sudden mental image of a smiling arrancar girl with a strange thin stick in her hand entered Hitsugaya's mind.

_Exactly. I have to ask them to do a scan of a wand for me. Maybe then I can find out the reason why that hollow was using it..._

If he couldn't find the reason, then Hitsugaya was going to be forced to go directly to Dumbledore. He didn't want that, seeing as the headmaster was currently not available. _Talk about being completely useless. I couldn't even contact him after that arrancar invasion. Apparently, he left soon after my dumb subordinates did._

"Yeah, Quirrell was a great teacher. There was just that minor drawback of him having Lord Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head."

_This is why Dumbledore is needed. Now._ Hitsugaya thought, smacking his forehead with his hand as Harry was given one more week of detentions.

--

After class, Hitsugaya slipped from the group with a quick, "Going to the bathroom" excuse. He didn't really want to stick around to hear Harry's rant about Umbridge and her "unfairness". Seeing as it was Harry's fault that he gotten into another weekful of detentions, not Umbridge's.

Pulling the sleek silver cell phone from the inside of his robe, Hitsugaya stared hard at the blank screen.

"Why is there no damn service?" Muttering another curse under his breath, Hitsugaya exited his gigai body with a small soul pill.

_Maybe if I go out on the roof, the stupid cell phone will start working._ With that faint sense of hope in his chest, Hitsugaya shunpoed his way up. He passed easily through the random ceiling and wall until finally spotting a half-way open window. Trotting towards it, he hopped easily onto the windowsill with one smooth stride.

The shutters slammed shut suddenly, impelling Toushirou to flip backwards and land safely onto the marble floor.

A few seconds of startled shock passed by before Hitsugaya straightened himself. "I didn't know the windows had attitude too." He snorted irascibly. The window then proceeded to do its own version of blowing a raspberry.

"My mood can only go so far." Hitsugaya gave another glare at the impertinent piece of double-glazed glass before whirling around.

A ghost was drifting in front of him.

Taken aback, Hitsugaya paused and let his eyes run across the phantom. A jolly-looking man of round proportions was staring back at him with a very interested expression on his face. Too interested.

"I say, are you a new ghost?" The man inquired, coarse brown robe fluttering lightly as his stomach quivered.

Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes. If he wasn't mistaken, this was one of the many plus spirits that occupied the castle. "Who are you?" He asked, ignoring the prior question.

The ghost leaned back and chuckled, his stomach jiggling more vigorously. "I'm the Fat Friar, the ghost of Hufflepuff. You must be a newcomer here," He peered down, eyes glinting curiously at the small-white haired boy.

He met those eyes square on, staring boldly at the friar. "I am a newcomer," He started. "But I'm not on a permanent stay." As if to demonstrate that point, Hitsugaya began walking down the hall.

The Fat Friar looked surprised at this piece of information, but stayed silent as Hitsugaya trotted away.

"If you're going to go outside, might I suggest the window?"

He turned around unwillingly. "I already tried the window. Apparently, it doesn't like me." Hitsugaya said coolly, waiting for the Fat Friar to murmur sympathetically and stop talking.

Instead of "murmuring sympathetically", the Fat Friar looked thoughtful. He floated towards the obstinate window and gently tapped the wooden sill.

"Open up, please." He requested, his tone polite and respectful. The stubborn window that had, just a few seconds ago, snapped rudely at Hitsugaya, immediately complied. Shutters were swung open in an almost servile manner and Hitsugaya could feel the edges of a satisfied breeze poke itself into the castle.

Beaming, the Fat Friar turned towards Hitsugaya.

_Is he waiting for applause?_ Toushirou thought to himself sarcastically. Nevertheless, he gave his quiet thanks.

"Make sure to be back soon," the Fat Friar called out as Hitsugaya grasped the edges of the window. "There are some dangerous creatures out there that eat souls. I find that Hogwarts is the safest place for any wandering ghost."

Giving a distracted nod, he leaped from the window. The voice of the Fat Friar was cut off abruptly and carried away by the buffeting winds. Hitsugaya snapped his legs out from under him, concentrating on finding those spirit particles in the wind. After having found satisfactory footholds, he launched himself towards the sky.

It was pleasant to be outside again, this time not having to fight dumb arrancars. Hitsugaya submerged himself once more in the fresh air before landing lightly on the stone-tiled roof of Hogwarts. The granite shingles were slippery, a light residue of drizzle coating the surface.

Hitsugaya walked carefully up the sloped roof, avoiding damp patches and loose shingles. He settled himself comfortably at the apex.

The sky was a clement blue, darkening as the horizon swelled with a mild symphony of colors. A flurry of cool wind swept by, teasing his captain's robe, then going on its merry way. Hitsugaya felt it leave, feeling mildly regretful.

Pulling out the cell phone once again, Hitsugaya opened it to discern the signal. The screen blinked back at him.

_Finally..._Relieved, Hitsugaya quickly began punching in numbers to Soul Society.

"Hello, this is the Bureau of Technology." A high-pitched, unnatural voice floated over.

"This is Hitsugaya Toushirou, captain of the 10th squad of the Gotei 13."

"W-wah! Hitsugaya-taichou!?" If it was even possible, the voice seemed to climb several octaves.

"...Is something wrong?" Hitsugaya asked, his voice edgy.

"N-no! Of course not! What can I do for you?" Typical nervous-sounding underling.

"I want a scan of a typical wizard's wand," Hitsugaya began. "My subordinates should have passed in their reports about the arrancar encounter here in Europe. I want to know if it's possible for arrancars to wield wands also."

He paused. The attendant on the other end of the line took it as an ultimatum. "Yes sir!" A few moments of shuffling and hasty sweeping. "If you could please pass your own wand under the cell phone screen..."

Hitsugaya patted himself down for a few seconds, searching vigorously for his wand. He pulled out the thin stick of wood from his coat, thanking the heavens that he hadn't forgotten to leave it in his gigai.

Taking hold of his cell phone horizontally, he carefully passed it over his wand. A small beeping sound issued from the phone along with a pale green light. The light quickly shined over the wand.

Pressing the cell phone once again to his ear, Hitsugaya waited as he heard more shuffling noises.

"Scan completed, the results will be sent in a few minutes."

"Alright." Hitsugaya hung up.

He was at loss at what to do next. All he could do was wait for the results. Debating on whether or not to spend the rest of the evening on the roof, Hitsugaya slowly walked down the roof.

A sudden memory of the extra amounts of homework Trelawney had given him prevailed in his mind. _Great..._Shuffling down the roof, Hitsugaya cast one more look around his silent haven before returning to Hogwarts.

---

"Hey Hetsugellia, where were you?" Ron asked as Hitsugaya came into view in the Great Hall. The red-haired boy was with Hermione, Harry strangely absent from the table.

"The bathroom." He answered, Hitsugaya was sure that he had told them before.

"Oh." Ron said, further speech was cut off as the food materialized onto the tables.

Hitsugaya watched with slight revulsion as Ron gorged himself with food. The amount and the fact that food just appeared onto the tables would never cease to amaze him, (including Ron's appetite).

Then again, he didn't really need mortal food to stay alive.

A sudden beeping noise interrupted his thoughts. Realizing that it was his cell phone, Hitsugaya stood up, coughed loudly to hide the noise, and excused himself.

"Where are you going? There's still more courses!" Ron yelled after him. Hermione said something also, except it was soon smothered by the general din and chaos of the Great Hall.

Hitsugaya pushed his way through the crowd, avoiding miscellaneous hands and feet that were littered all across the aisle. He dodged a familiar looking rodent-faced boy before finally ducking out of the Hall.

Gripping cell phone once again, Hitsugaya looked at the screen.

It was blank.

Again.

"What the-?" Disbelievingly, Hitsugaya shook the electronic machine a few times. The screen stayed white.

_It was working a few minutes ago!_ Exacerbated, he controlled the impulse to shatter the piece of metal against the wall.

_Deep breaths...Inhale...Exhale...Inhale...I really need to get a new cell phone…At least this gives me the excuse to go back on the roof._ Lightened by this thought, Hitsugaya began the long journey back to the roof.

--

_Rargh. Nothing much happened, besides Hitsugaya's slow and uneventful process in making friends. 'Dumbledore's Army' chapter is coming up next! Hitsugaya needs a new phone. The chances he'll get one is zero, where in the wizarding world can one buy a cellphone? Anyway, I'll do my best to update more often; I've been forfeiting a lot of my fanfics. It's mostly because I wrote them a long time ago when I was still amateurish. I'm looking forward to start several new stories I have in mind, all oneshots so far. Hehehehe…well then, FireyFlames is off. And yes, it's spelled wrong on purpose._


	19. Mice, Bowtruckles, Tantrums

The Muggle with White Hair

**The Muggle with White Hair**

**NOTE**: _I am no way copying any other BLEACHHP fics out there. Have fun reading, eating, flaming, criticizing! Also, this story takes place during the Order of the Phoenix arc._

**Warning: Harry's rant. XD**

Chapter 19: Mice, Angry Bowtruckles, Harry's Tantrum

"Settle down."

McGonagall's strong stern voice snapped causing chattering students to scurry to their seats. She came into full view, a deep scowl set onto her face. It was either because of the idiots in the front that were setting each other's robes on fire or because of the large figure that waddled in after her.

It was probably the latter. Professor Umbridge entered the classroom a few steps behind McGonagall. Sneering, the plump Defense against the Dark Arts teacher gave a condescending cursory glance around the room before placing herself in the back of the room.

"That will do." She said, eyes pointedly looking at the two arsonists. "Mr. Finnegan, kindly come here and hand back the homework." Embarrassed, Seamus patted the obvious burn marks on his robes before receiving a large pile of papers. "Miss Brown, please take this box of mice- don't be silly, girl, they won't hurt you- and hand one to each student."

Hitsugaya watched with interest as Umbridge tried and failed to interrupt McGonagall's lesson. The strict professor spoke louder, introducing the lesson of Vanishing Spells, and effectively drowned out Umbridge's small annoying coughs.

Watching this with amusement, especially when McGonagall turned around to berate Umbridge's coughing fits, Hitsugaya absentmindedly picked up a mouse from the box Lavender was passing out. The small animal wriggled in panic before finally pushing its teeth onto the skin of Hitsugaya's thumb.

"Ow!" On reflex, Toushirou dropped the mouse, banging its small cranium onto the table. Shrieking, this time in pain, the quivering animal fell to the floor and darted away.

Almost as if on cue, a loud chorus of screams erupted into the air. Several people, particularly of the female gender sprang up and screeched at the top of their lungs. Lavender Brown, upset by this pandemonium, gave a voluntary shriek of her own and flung the box of mice she was holding into the air.

_Great. It's raining vermin._

A large rat landed on Hitsugaya's face, making him wince in disgust. Vehemently, he swung it aside, accidentally sending it towards Ron's way. Ron blanched in disgust, bellowed an oath, and jumped back, accordingly knocking over Harry. The latter gave a noise of protest before falling under Ron's weight and landing onto the floor.

The mice that were in Harry and Ron's possession quickly took advantage of this small chance of freedom and raced down the table upsetting parchment, books, and ink. More shrieks and screams assailed Hitsugaya's ears.

Suddenly, the desk behind him burst into chaos, girls and even boys alike wailing. A frantic pair of girls pushed their desks away as if doing this would create a barrier of some sort. Usually, Hitsugaya would applaud this sort of extremely idiotic thinking, except when the table came crashing down on him.

He jerked forward quickly in order to avoid the falling behemoth, but the erratic movement set his chair off balance. It tipped him off the seat causing him to smash his forehead onto the edge of the table.

Hitsugaya, in a rush of pain, wondered if this was revenge for the prior mouse's skull he had crushed. Blearily, he was dimly aware of the consternation that surrounded him. Shouts and the collision of students, desks, and books, including the panicked scattering and squeaking of mice seemed to fill the atmosphere. Professor McGonagall tried yelling to restore order except was drowned out by the hullabaloo that Lavender Brown and, strangely, Neville Longbottom was creating.

"Oy, you okay Hetsugellia?" A rough hand prodded him on the arm none too gently. Ignoring the pain buzzing prominently in his head, Hitsugaya turned around to glance at Harry. His glasses were askew and his hair was sporting the extremely messy-and-nerdy look yet still managed to have an expression of concern on his face.

Hitsugaya gave a sharp nod to affirm his "okayness" and immediately regretted it as the motion sent a new wave of throbbing throughout his skull. Even more worried, Harry leaned forward to shake him a little bit more when a loud, inhumane scream made both of them flinch.

Professor Umbridge had abandoned her seat at the back of the class and instead was hopping around as if she had the urge to dance. The people in the class had paused from throwing random objects at each other to stare at this spectacle.

"Whoop! Wh-whoop!" Umbridge shouted, slapping at the skirts of her robe while dancing around like a small puppet whose strings were being jerked around by an immature handler. Hitsugaya watched, eyebrows raised, as the class slowly calmed down. Muffled giggles now replaced the hardcore screaming that had gone just a few moments ago. Despite aching skull, Toushirou found amusement in Umbridge's small dance routine.

Professor McGonagall approached the Hogwarts Inquisitor cautiously, mouth threatening to curve into a smirk. Her eyes narrowed at the prancing Umbridge, hands situated at her waist, an is-this-any-behavior-suited-to-a-Hogwarts-professor sort of look on her face. Her scowl was marred by the fact that McGonagall obviously found great hilarity in this.

A small movement caught Hitsugaya's eyes, forcing him to concentrate on the small gray shape on the tip of Umbridge's shoe.

The mouse looked up, squeaking in shock and fear, and made a haphazard leap from its place on Umbridge's shoe. The Defense against Dark Arts professor chose that time to look down and screamed at the fact that there was a rodent in such close vicinity to her.

Half-deafened, the mouse streaked across the floor, under the door, and out into the hallway.

Silence.

Then-

A choked, desperately-muffled gasp of laughter suddenly echoed across the still room. Someone chimed in with a strangled snort and soon everyone was pitching in. The class, that had been, minutes before, in pandemonium was now roaring with laughter.

Hitsugaya felt the corners of his lips curl up.

Was he...smiling? Surprised, Hitsugaya wondered if the 'bumped head' had anything to do with his zygomatic muscles suddenly working. Actually, to be honest, it was more of a smirk. _Well, it's a start._ He thought, shrugging slightly. His head pulsed and he quickly recoiled.

Professor Umbridge stood, frozen, her eyes slightly out-of-focus as they concentrated on the giggling horde of students before her.

"Are you alright, High Inquisitor?" Professor McGonagall inquired, her tone patronizing.

Blood rushed to her flabby cheeks. Umbridge drew herself up with as much dignity as she could, smoothing out her robes nervously.

"Tell me, Professor McGonagall," She began cuttingly, voice quivering in embarrassment. "Does this ruckus usually happen during your lessons? Or is it because of lack of discipline?" She then turned to the class, chin high. "Quiet down!"

A mass of giggles and chuckles greeted her.

"Silence! I command you all to be quiet!" Umbridge screamed, her face scarlet with the effort of shouting.

Unimpressed, McGonagall watched her futile efforts to stop the class. She faced the rowdy students after Umbridge screamed out a few nonsensical phrases.

"Alright now, calm down."

Children that had earlier not paid any attention to the girlish, high soprano at once hushed. Dumbfounded, Umbridge watched this transition before lashing out at her colleague.

"Well, this is a pretty piece of business! I have just witnessed the most unlawful chaos and loss of control in Hogwarts so far, in all my rounds of inspecting! Don't you have any control over you class, Professor McGonagall?"

_Look who's talking._ Hitsugaya thought briefly. Harry stood next to him, a scowl on his face, as he glared daggers at the short toad-like woman.

The others watched in anticipation, no one criticized McGonagall without getting an earful of it (besides Headmaster Dumbledore). Seeing Umbridge get utterly decimated by the Transfiguration teacher would be an utmost highlight of the day.

McGonagall's mouth snapped itself in a grim line, looking severe and dry. "Considering the fact that you have only just been named Hogwarts High Inquisitor, I would hardly call your experience a sufficient amount to judge others. Then again, the Ministry of Magic often overlooks those, if not, vital elements."

Looking as if she was slapped, Umbridge reeled back before arranging herself into an aggressive stance. She opened her mouth, about to scream in frustration, when McGonagall quickly cut her off again.

"And, speaking of my class being interrupted, I must say that your little dance routine has taken more time out of my lesson than the mice. If these strange disturbances of yours come up again during your 'inspection', I'm afraid I'll have to complain."

"Well, I'm _afraid_ that your complaints will not affect my employment whatsoever, Professor McGonagall! After all, I am hired by the Ministry of Magic not Headmaster Dumbledore!" Umbridge quickly replied triumphantly, yet her face still reddening.

McGonagall glared at her in distaste. "That may be true, but rules state that the Headmaster may remove anything that impedes the student's learning progress. Unfortunately, dancing tap falls into that category."

"How can she lecture me about not losing my temper with Umbridge!" Harry whispered, grinning at Ron. Hitsugaya would've whistled out loud if his head wasn't vibrating painfully. Professor McGonagall had a sharp tongue to match Kuchiki Byakuya's (whenever he felt obligated to talk that is. The man was stone-dumb most of the time). He would have enjoyed Umbridge's reaction to McGonagall's comment when the bell rang.

Nobody moved, everyone was reluctant to leave the battlefield. Noticing this, Professor McGonagall sharply ordered them to get moving.

Toushirou fell towards the back of the group along with Ron, Hermione, and Harry. Apparently, they also were interested to the outcome of this verbal battle.

Instead, McGonagall's eyes fell upon them. "Hurry up, you four." She snapped. Chastised, the group quickly left the room.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Ron burst out laughing. "Did you see that? Blimey, Umbridge looked like she had a mouse up her robes."

Hermione sighed exasperatedly, but was also smiling. "That's because there was, Ron." Ron blinked in surprise.

Harry had a large, albeit, stupid grin on his face. "That's what she gets for trying to inspect Professor McGonagall's class." He added.

All three looked expectantly at Hitsugaya.

Realizing that this was a time to contribute, he cast around in his mind to say a juvenile, acceptably idiotic phrase. "I'm just glad that we didn't have to stay behind and catch the mice." He said lamely.

Fortunately, that was a perfect idiot juvenile phrase.

"Speaking of the mice, didn't Hetsugellia start the whole chain reaction?" Ron said thoughtfully, eyes gleaming in appreciation.

Harry blinked. "Really?" He asked, doubtful. He never did see Hitsugaya as the prankster type, more like the perfect student git. "Yeah, I remember that he threw a giant, ugly rat at me." Ron commented, as if having a giant ugly rat thrown at him was the best thing during that class. "I thought you were just being an ass, sorry mate."

"Apology accepted." Hitsugaya answered, suddenly realizing how ass-like that reply was. "I mean, er, you were the closest to throw something at, so..."

Grateful that he wasn't the one that was the nearest to Hitsugaya during that time, Harry gave an appreciative chuckle. He was still surprised with Hitsugaya's rebellious behavior, but anyone who made Umbridge look like an idiot deserved a pat on the back.

Hermione turned with a reproachful air to Hitsugaya. It was obvious she was thinking of anything but pats on the back for Hitsugaya. "You really shouldn't have done that." She reprimanded, glancing at him with a scolding air.

Hitsugaya frowned. Was Hermione looking down at him just now? "I think you're forgetting that Lavender Brown was the one who threw the box of mice into the air." He replied.

"Yeah Hermione, do get off his back about it." Ron said. Before Hermione could retort angrily, Harry quickly intervened. "We're going to be late for Care of Magical Creatures."

The quartet quickly made their way across the school grounds. Ron, Harry, and Hitsugaya took care to talk loudly to each other (Ron and Harry doing most of the talking) in order to prevent Hermione from scolding Hitsugaya. Truthfully, the tenth division captain didn't look forward to Hermione's long self-righteous speech and gladly contributed.

A familiar long line of tables were set up with their usual aggressive bowtruckle occupants. Professor Umbridge was talking with Professor Grubbly-Plank, to the quartet's surprise. Hitsugaya had assumed that the High Inquisitor had gone off in a deep sulk after her embarrassing moment in the spotlight. _It's probably to save face._ He thought to himself.

He settled at the table closest to the conversing professors. Hermione, Ron, and Harry followed, the latter frowning grimly. "Why's Umbridge here?" He whispered a little too loudly. Hitsugaya flashed him a warning look and shoved a bowtruckle towards the boy.

A familiar bowtruckle, (well familiar to Hitsugaya at any rate), advanced towards Toushirou, flexing its long limbs. It swiped at him aggressively.

"Hello to you too." Hitsugaya said dryly before seizing its limbs, effectively restricting its movement. Ron glanced over at him. "How come that bowtruckle hates you so much?" He asked suddenly being bathed in a shadow.

Umbridge's shadow.

Ron jumped visibly.

Professor Umbridge took a few seconds to leer creepily over the red-haired boy before sweeping by.

They watched her retreating back for one frozen moment before Ron broke the stillness with a relieved sigh. "Er, Ron, why was she staring at you like that?" Harry asked, trying to prod his bowtruckle across the table.

Ron shrugged nervously. "It was an awkward moment." Hitsugaya said in a tone of finality. _No need for the Weasley boy to become more embarrassed._ His bowtruckle took advantage of Hitsugaya's thoughts to swat his arm violently.

"Ow! Why you little-" He swore quietly, slamming it against the edge of the table and startling Hermione. Unfortunately, this move did not subdue the magical walking tree like the mouse before. It kicked him in the chest, uttering small vegetation war cries.

Wincing at how the bruise on his chest collaborated with his headache, Toushirou grappled with the bowtruckle.

_Damn this...ow! Stop kicking you- Okay, enough of this._

Grabbing the fiend by its short stunted leg, Toushirou was about to fling it across the grass before Hermione tapped her wand quickly on the creature.

It immediately went still.

She retracted her wand quickly as Professor Grubbly-Plank looked suspiciously in their direction. "Hetsugellia, that's not the way to treat a bowtruckle." She said, picking up her own tree trunk. "You're not supposed to hold it that way either," Hermione added as Hitsugaya picked it up gingerly by its roots.

Before he could mutter thanks, Harry shushed him.

_Is it just me or are the brats getting a little too friendly?_

**It's just you.**

_Ah._

"Now, I hear there have been injuries in this class?" Umbridge inquired, standing over Goyle, a dull student if anything. Harry stiffened at the question, almost throwing a panicked glance over at the boy reminiscent of a rat.

"That was me," Malfoy answered. "I was slashed by a hippogriff."

Umbridge blinked in shock. "A hippogriff?"

"What's a hippogriff?" Hitsugaya asked quietly to Hermione. She opened her mouth only to have Harry interrupt her.

"Only because he was too stupid to listen to what Hagrid told him to do."

Confused for a split second (_How does that say what a hippogriff is?_), Hitsugaya watched as Harry was rewarded another day's attention.

--

"That Umbridge woman is awful."

Hitsugaya peered over the top of his _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ manual. No one had bothered to answer his question about what exactly a hippogriff was so he was reduced to borrowing a book. Of course, seeing as Madam Pince would still snarl viciously and foam at the mouth when he approached the library, he had taken it from an unsuspecting Slytherin. Ron had assured him that stealing, while able to get you a week's detention, was perfectly all right when taking from Slytherins.

So there he was, in the Common Room, with a stolen book in his hands. "Er, sorry?" Hitsugaya said tentatively to Hermione's frustrated expression. He had a weird feeling that she knew where he had gotten the book.

"I said that Umbridge woman is awful." She snapped, throwing down her quill. "Tell us something we don't know." Ron answered back with equal annoyance. Several crumpled papers and broken quills were scattered around his couch. Apparently, Ron could not handle astronomy anymore than Hitsugaya could.

Hastening before Hermione and Ron could start quarreling again (goodness, how _could_ Harry stand it?), Hitsugaya interrupted. "Speaking of Umbridge, is Harry at detention right now?"

Snorting, Hermione placed down her quill to direct her sullen gaze at the fire. "Yes. I can't believe he stays so long this late at night."

As if prompted by Hermione's words, Toushirou looked around the room. How did Hermione know this when there wasn't even a clock, he did not know.

She abruptly pulled out two long darning needles and started working on a mess of wool. "What I'm really angry about is how Umbridge can't even teach the class. She makes us read that awful Slinkhard fellow, a dunce at book-writing if there was ever one." Her needles flashed eerily in the firelight.

Hitsugaya felt inclined to agree, Slinkhard _was_ boring. He had rather endure Matsumoto's long shopping sessions than reading Slinkhard.

"I didn't know that there were books in the world that you didn't like," Ron muttered sarcastically.

The needles paused.

Groaning inside, Hitsugaya threw a glare at Ron. _Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned._ Hitsugaya quoted mentally. _Especially if she has sharp objects in her hand._

Hermione went on with her activities, deciding to bypass the comment. "Honestly, it's all about theories and stale scenarios. Where are the real demonstrations? How are we supposed to learn if we're not allowed to use any of the spells?" As she talked, her voice grew shriller and louder. "Actually, are we even learning any spells at all? No, we're not, because the _stupid_ ministry just has the urge to limit our learning! The lot of them is so idiotic..."

Hitsugaya shifted the book in front of him as a shield of some sorts just in case Hermione felt the need to throw the needles at someone. He was, to be honest, a little wearied with her rant. For one thing, it did nothing to alleviate the dull pain in his head. For another, he really didn't need a new set of bruises.

"We should poison her." Ron said darkly from his chair.

Occupied with pulling out a tangled thread, Hermione shook her head. "No, no, that won't work at all."

Were they actually considering something illegal? Hitsugaya raised both of his eyebrows. He didn't know that they had the guts.

"Why not? Can't you whip us something, Hermione-" Ron started. "No, because I don't have the ingredients and Professor Snape will be down our backs if we steal from his stores."

_Whoa, they are thinking about it._ "Instead of committing murder, we should just learn separately from her classes." Hitsugaya said, flipping the page where several bowtruckles were running about happily in a gross misrepresentation of their kind (at least that was what Hitsugaya thought).

Ron scoffed as he threw the crumpled papers into the waste basket. "I don't think we have the time to have someone else teach us, especially since we have all this home-"

He was startled into silence as Hermione sat up straight from her chair. "That's it! Why didn't I think of this before? It makes perfect sense since he's had so much know-how..." Ron and Hitsugaya stared and exchanged uneasy looks with each other.

"Who's 'he'?" Hitsugaya asked, as Ron looked on.

Hermione turned to beam at them, causing both of the boys to flinch. "Harry of course!"

--

"Here, soak your hand in that, it's a solution of strained and pickled murtlap tentacles, it should help." Hermione passed the bowl of thick yellow liquid to Harry. He accepted it gratefully and placed his bleeding hand into the bowl.

Harry had returned to the Common Room shortly after Hermione laid out her plan. Ron backed it up eagerly, but Hitsugaya was a little doubtful. Was Harry really so experienced that he should start his own Defense against the Dark Arts courses?

_I mean, Harry's alright with his studies, but I really don't see anything that qualifies him to be a teacher._ Hitsugaya thought, as Hermione and Ron talked to Harry. _It's better off to ask for someone else._ He stared at Harry critically, eyes searching for any traits that could make him a good leader.

All he saw was a skinny, wimpy little boy, with thick glasses, a scar, and messy hair. Hitsugaya could see nothing authoritarian in his figure. At least, nothing that would compel him to sit down and listen to this straggly boy try and teach a lesson.

Shaking his head, Hitsugaya listened on as Hermione neared the kill.

"No, no, I'm not talking about Lupin. He's too busy with the Order and anyway, the most we could see him is during Hogsmeade weekends and that's not nearly often enough." Hermione said.

"Who, then?" Harry asked with a confused frown on his face.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm talking about _you_ Harry."

The ball was dropped. Harry looked from Ron to Hermione to Hitsugaya before looking back to Hermione again. It was obvious that he was having a hard time to recover said 'ball'.

"About me what?" Harry blinked.

"She wants you to teach Defense against the Dark Arts." Hitsugaya said impatiently, arms crossed. The more time passed the more Toushirou thought that this was not a wise decision. It hadn't taken him this long to react when he was approached with being a prospective candidate to the captain's position.

"Me?" Harry echoed. His face suddenly transformed into a smile. It wasn't an I'm-flattered sort of smile, it was more of a that-was-a-really-funny-joke-now-stop-it-guys smile.

_Well he can smile at any rate._

"You know what, I'm not sure I want someone this stupid teaching me," Ron said offhandedly, grinning. "Let's think. Uh...first year you saved the Stone from You-Know-Who."

_The Stone?_ Was Harry so incompetent that Ron was making jokes about his abilities? _And You-Know-Who? Is that a general term or what?_

"But that was luck, that wasn't skill." Harry said, beginning to grow defensive.

"Second year, you killed the basilisk and destroyed Riddle."

Hitsugaya listened on. _Okay. 'Killing the basilisk' sounds like something worthwhile. I'm not so sure 'destroying riddle' is._

"Yeah, but if Fawkes hadn't turned up I-"

"Third year, you fought off about a hundred dementors at once-"

_Hmm..._

"You know that was a fluke, if the Time-Turner hadn't-"

"Last year, you fought of You-Know-Who again-"

_Who is this You-Know-Who? _Hitsugaya thought to himself exasperatedly. Why in the world would the name someone You-Know-Who, when there was bound to be someone somewhere that didn't have any idea who? _Oh, the irony is killing me._

"STOP LAUGHING!"

Something shattered. Murtlap liquid splattered all over the floor. Ron and Hermione were shaken out of their smirks. Hitsugaya watched as Harry stood there panting, amid the remaining shards of the bowl. He glowered at them furiously.

"_You don't know what it's like!_ You, any of you, you've never had to face him, have you? You think it's just memorizing a bunch of spells and throwing them at him, like you're in class or something? The whole time you're sure that you know there's nothing between you and dying except your own-your own brain or guts or whatever- like you can think straight when you know you're about a second from being murdered, or tortured, or watching your friends die- they've never taught us that in their classes, what it's like to deal with things like that- and you three sit there acting like I'm the clever little boy to be standing here, alive, like Diggory was stupid, like he messed up- you just don't get it, that could just as easily have been me, it would have been if Voldemort hadn't needed me-"

He paused to take a giant breath. Ron and Hermione looked like they had been slapped. Several times in fact. This reaction was something they had not at all anticipated. "We weren't saying anything like that, mate. We weren't having a go at Diggory, we didn't- you've got the wrong end of the-" Ron fumbled on, finally throwing a quick look at Hermione who was stricken dumb.

"It's nothing like a test! It's literally standing there and-and-" Harry struggled to find the words to continue his rant.

"And being absorbed in fear."

Harry looked up. His angry green eyes met Hitsugaya's own cool ones. "It's the sensation of not knowing when the next blow will end your life or when you'll ever see your loved ones again. It's the murderous intent of the enemy standing right in front of you knowing and enjoying in the fact that he'll extinguish your life. It's when everything you've learned has abandoned you and you're operating on nothing but self-preservation and instincts."

All three followed his voice, mesmerized. Hitsugaya went lower, his eyes maintaining steady contact with Harry. "It's the blood that pulses out of your body. It's the pain when your limbs are broken. It's the realization that you're going to die and no one's going to help you."

Silence.

"Right?"

It was broken. Harry cast his eyes downward and collapsed back into his chair. He willed himself to flare up at Hitsugaya's words, attack him or something, but instead felt all his anger evaporate. _It's true._ Harry realized. _What he said was true._

_But how? And why?_

It was Hitsugaya's turn to be stared at. Ron and Hermione still had their dumbstruck faces, only this time they were directing them at the white-haired boy.

Maybe he had said a little too much. Hitsugaya turned away from their scrutinizing gazes and picked up his book. Hermione took this as a cue.

"Harry," She began nervously. "Don't you see? This...this is exactly why we need you...We need to know what it's r-really like...facing him...V-Voldemort."

_Voldemort._ The name was finally familiar to him. Toushirou paused, reliving his memories. He could distinctly remember a time when Dumbledore had informed him about a dangerous wizard that was after Harry's life...

"Well, I'm off to bed." Hermione said, her voice a little bit shrill. "Erm...'night." Ron got to his feet rapidly. "Coming?" He asked stiffly to Harry. Harry seemed to be examining the floor. "Yeah. In a ...minute. I'll just clear this up."

Pausing, Hermione turned around. "Harry, think about it. Please?" And with this request, she and Ron vanished upstairs.

This left Hitsugaya and Harry in a long strained reticence. "I thought," Hitsugaya began, startling Harry. "That Hermione and Ron were foolish for suggesting that you could teach us Defense against the Dark Arts."

Harry was still looking down, finding great interest in the evaporating essence. Undaunted, Hitsugaya went on. He would throw himself over a cliff if this turned out to be another of those awkward moments. "I assumed that you didn't have enough experience with real life to be in the position to teach anyone else. I was wrong."

He hesitated for a moment. "You know a lot. A lot more than the average person. You already experienced these kinds of situations before. The kids here need that experience. You might not be able to transfer those feelings to them hands-on, but you'll do a damn better job than Umbridge and Slinkhard."

"All in all, you should really think about it." Hitsugaya finished. He nodded to Harry and left the Common Room, leaving the emotionally exhausted boy to mull over his thoughts.

--

_Ew. Harry being emo. I had to put that in there for character development. xD I understand if you skipped or skimmed the paragraph. I did that myself while writing it. I should put a disclaimer. Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling (whom I used to think was a guy). Anyways, Dumbledore's Army will get more of a plotline/appearance in the next chapter. I also edited the book a little, as you can see, (if you're an avid Harry Potter reader you should see the differences). I'm probably going to edit more as I go along, though not too much. Feeling accomplished, FireyFlames. Thanks for reviewing everyone!!_


	20. Setting Out

**The Muggle with White Hair**

**NOTE**: _I am no way copying any other BLEACHHP fics out there. Have fun reading, eating, flaming, criticizing! Also, this story takes place during the Order of the Phoenix arc._

Chapter 20- Setting Out

Two long weeks had finally passed. Two, agonizingly hard and exasperatingly long, weeks.

It had taken all of Hitsugaya's self-control to curb his sleepless hunts around the castle, waiting for that prospective arrancar flare and Espada member just around the corner. He couldn't stand waiting. Nor could he stand waiting and doing homework just to pass the time. The fact that his cell phone was still out of commission meant that he was cut off from Soul Society. He had received absolutely no new information other than the research chart of the wand that he had requested days ago.

If it was anyone else that was shut up in a grotesque Baroque castle with annoying teachers and poltergeists hanging around, they probably would have gone insane already. Hitsugaya had fully expected himself to do the same, perhaps losing his extensive vocabulary or developing an English accent. Socializing with children could do that to him.

To Hitsugaya's surprise and relief, he wasn't sick of their presence. That is, Harry, Ron and Hermione's presences. They weren't the best company to have when you were on an extremely urgent mission (on account of their nosy ways), but were alright to have a chat with.

**Someone's becoming soft.**

_Shut up._

On the brighter, albeit duller side of life, Hitsugaya had finally mastered his coursework, (having raised all his grades to an Exceeds Expectations). With that temporarily out of his way, Hitsugaya could now relax.

Not.

Class work was just one of his problems. Recently, the clones (Fred and George) had taken to stalking him, for example, pelting those damn dung bombs around.

_I really need to get rid of them._

Toushirou walked swiftly down the corridors, books in hand, weaving himself expertly into the congested crowd of students. He was well down the hallway when something exploded causing innocent students to shriek in disgust. Undaunted by their shouts of annoyance, Hitsugaya continued onward finally ducking down a remote pathway.

"Hetsugellia!"

Maintaining an oblivious facade, he kept on walking. Hopefully, the twins would give up and-

"Oy, HETSUGELL-"

The voice sounded distinctly familiar.

Turning around, Hitsugaya watched the small figure run towards him. A flash of crimson hair almost forced him to dash in the opposite direction, (would those twins give up already?), until the golden and scarlet badge flashed. Hitsugaya only knew one Weasley that wore that badge and had the rank as prefect. And no, it wasn't either of those damned twins.

Ron slowed down to a stride, the gangly boy coming into a full stop next to Hitsugaya. The struggle to get through all the Hogwarts students had apparently exhausted him as he leaned over and huffed for breath. Hitsugaya gave him a few seconds to stare at his shoes before continuing on his way.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Ron inquired, after finally catching his breath.

"To the library." Hitsugaya answered back curtly.

"Swell, mate."

"..."

"Hermione's already there." Ron hastily put in, at the sight of Hitsugaya's questioning glance.

"Hm."

"Harry should be on his way also."

"Mm."

"We're going to try and convince him again."

"Hm."

"You'll help right?"

"Mm."

"I mean, last time, you were the only one that left an impression on Harry."

"Ah."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Oh."

"..."

"You're really quiet today, Hetsugellia."

"..."

"But it's not weird, since you're always quiet."

"..."

"Did something happen?"

"..."

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I mean, Harry acts like this sometimes. Ever since last year with-"

"We're here."

"Oh, uh, right." Ron shut his mouth, successfully stopping the blabber that had been coming out a few seconds ago. Hitsugaya, (who had not been listening to Ron on account for the creepy feeling that he was being stalked), peered inside the library.

Madam Pince was situated at the front counter, marking something on a long piece of parchment. As Ron and Hitsugaya shuffled in, she looked up, scowling at the noise Ron was making across the marble floor.

Her eyes narrowed in on Hitsugaya, lips pursing itself into a thin line. Other than the discontented look she was shooting at him, she made no move to banish the boy from the library. Something that Hitsugaya regarded as progress.

_I guess I have my library privileges again._

The pair wandered into the vast catacombs of the library, encountering other Hogwarts students that were flipping through books and painstakingly making up homework.

Hermione and Harry were glancing at an opened book together, both looking up as Ron's noisy footsteps alerted them.

"Can't you at least be quieter Ron?" Hermione scowled, nodding her greetings to Hitsugaya who promptly nodded back.

Ron shrugged before dropping into the seat next to her. He was used to being butchered by Hermione on how "noisy" he was to the point of not being fazed at all.

Hitsugaya privately agreed with Hermione, but was not in the mood to voice his opinion. He had long since learned that arguments between Hermione and Ron should be avoided at all costs unless he wanted to sit through hours of unintelligible and idiotic squabbling.

"I was wondering whether you'd thought any more about Defense against the Dark Arts, Harry." Hermione piped up.

"Course I have. Can't forget it, can we, with that hag teaching us-" Harry muttered back.

"I meant the idea that Ron and Hetsugellia-oh, all right, the idea Hetsugellia and I had, then- about you teaching us."

A tense sort of silence settled over the group, Hitsugaya the only one not being wholly affected. He wisely avoided exchanging looks with Hermione and Ron; instead he pulled out his cell phone. Glancing at the dead screen with tepid interest, Hitsugaya waited for Harry to speak.

"Well," Harry finally said. "Yeah, I-I've thought about it a bit."

"And?" Hermione asked quickly.

"I dunno."

Hermione's face fell and Ron quickly took over. "I thought it was a good idea from the start."

"You did listen to what I said about a load of it being luck, didn't you?"

"Yes we have." Hitsugaya broke in, fed up with Harry's apparent modesty. "Luck being put aside, according to Hermione and Ron, you have skill."

He lifted his eyes to stare directly at Harry. "There's no sense in belittling your achievements."

"Yes, Harry. Hetsugellia is right. I mean, you can produce Patronuses and everything. What do you think? Will you teach us?" Hermione asked hopefully.

"Just you guys, yeah?"

"Well, Harry, I really think you ought to teach anyone who wants to learn. I mean we're talking about defending ourselves against V-Voldemort. It doesn't seem fair if we don't offer the chance to other people."

Hitsugaya crossed his arms across his chest.

"Yeah, but I doubt anyone except you two would want to be taught by me. I'm a nutter, remember?"

"I think you might be surprised. Look, you know the first weekend in October's Hogsmeade weekend? How would it be if we tell anyone who's interested to meet us in the village and we can talk it over?" Hermione offered.

"Why do we have to do it outside school?" Ron asked.

"Because I don't think Umbridge would be very happy if she found out what were up to." She replied, dryly.

"Where's this Hogsmeade?" Hitsugaya asked suddenly, having followed the strain of conversation lightly and a little exasperatedly.

Harry turned to answer his question. "It's this town near Hogwarts. We usually go there for the weekends."

"There's this really good candy shop there too," Ron put in.

Hitsugaya thought briefly of Yachiru before Hermione's voice interrupted him. "You need permission from a guardian to go though. Did you hand in your permission slip Hitsugaya?"

_Permission slip? Dumbledore thoughtfully forgot to mention that part._

"No," Hitsugaya admitted. "I don't have one."

"But you have to come!" Ron said, revealing his belief that it would be only them that would want Harry's lessons.

"Don't badger him, Ron. I guess we can't help it." Hermione said, turning to Hitsugaya. "We'll tell you all about it though." She promised.

Hitsugaya shrugged. He wasn't disappointed, to be honest. Maybe he could take advantage of their absence to do some Soul Society duties.

And maybe even take care of some problems...

Even though he knew that Hermione, Harry, and Ron couldn't see him in shinigami form, he was beginning to feel faint shreds of reiatsu floating around the three. Hitsugaya was rather surprised, but quickly assumed that it was probably due to the influence of all the House ghosts that were floating around. He paid especial attention about Harry, whose own reiatsu was slightly stronger than the other two.

_Before long, they'll be able to see a faint image of my shinigami form._ He thought concernedly. As long as their reiatsu levels didn't progress farther, his cover would be kept. _I need to see where all the reiatsu is being leaked off from. Maybe I can seal it. If it really is the ghosts, then I can't do anything about it other than Soul Burial them. Which I also can't do because of Dumbledore's request._

"Too bad, mate. We'll bring you some stuff from Honeydukes though." Ron said sympathetically, apparently thinking that he had said some great assurance for Hitsugaya. Realizing that this was Ron's way of reassuring him (it had to do with food for one thing.) Hitsugaya shrugged his thanks.

While the others were at Hogsmeade, Hitsugaya would have a lot of business to conduct.

--

Hogwarts was significantly empty.

Hitsugaya never realized how wonderful it was to be alone again. Now if he could onlyfind someone to make him a cup of green tea...

The trio had left earlier in the morning, leaving Hitsugaya alone in the Gryffindor Common Room. It was absolutely luxurious without having the twins stalking him and classes to attend. Being able to pick the comfiest and squashiest armchair in the room was an added bonus also. Hitsugaya had been enjoying his 'alone time' for the first few hours of the day before he finally slid off the couch (regretfully) and left the Common room.

He ran into Professor McGonagall, who had been about to enter the Common room herself.

"Ah, Mr. Toushirou. I was looking for you."

Hitsugaya raised a single eyebrow; he couldn't remember anything particular that granted him a visit from the Head of the Gryffindor house.

"Headmaster Dumbledore requests your presence. I advise you to hurry to his office, Mr. Toushirou, before other members of the faculty know that Dumbledore is here." She paused.

"By the way, it's Acid Pops."

Annoyed at the sudden summoning, Hitsugaya made his way to Dumbledore's office. Professor McGonagall had most definitely meant the Umbridge woman when she talked about "other members of the faculty".

He could care less if Umbridge hogged Dumbledore for the next few weeks or so. Hitsugaya had long since learned not to depend on the mysterious Headmaster other than receiving permission to occupy the school. Why was he being summoned now? And for what purpose?

If it had to do with babysitting several more Hogwarts students...Hitsugaya could still not figure out why Harry was so special that he had to be taken care of. He certainly had the skills, a fact that Hitsugaya had learned during the past two weeks. However, Harry wasn't talented enough to own the reputation of being a formidable enemy to anyone.

The so-called mass murderer wizard, Voldemort or something of the other, must have poor analytical skills to assume that a thirteen year old with thick glasses was an opponent to be feared and treated with caution.

_In conclusion, Dumbledore is clearly overreacting and I'm stuck with a duty that I can't even comprehend._

After several more minutes of deep contemplation, Hitsugaya arrived at Dumbledore's office. A very familiar looking gargoyle leered at him.

"Acid Pops." Hitsugaya said in a tone that implied that he wouldn't take any cheek from anything that was made from stone.

It only replied with a churlish smirk before leaping aside and revealing the revolving staircase. Taking the steps two at a time, Hitsugaya climbed up the stairs and approached the door. He looked dubiously at it, wondering on whether to knock or not (captains never had to knock in response in Soul Society) when a voice beckoned him in.

"Come in Mr. Toushirou."

Shrugging, Hitsugaya opened the door and stepped into the familiar environment of the headmaster's office. Dumbledore, for once, was not sitting at his desk. Instead, he was standing at the window, one hand extended out towards Fawkes and the other resting gently on the sill.

His back was to the soft rays of sunlight. They filtered in around him, encasing Dumbledore with a soft glow. It was his calm, compassionate gaze that always mystified Hitsugaya. How could anyone look that serene without a hidden agenda? A sudden memory of Aizen before his awkward-traitor phase appeared in Toushirou's mind causing him to scowl.

Dumbledore's aura was a lot like Aizen's so-called sympathetic facade. Hitsugaya had been tricked once, who could blame his hostility against Dumbledore?

The phoenix stirred slightly, its brilliant red and gold plumage catching the glow from its owner and sparkling. As if prompted, Dumbledore turned fully to face Hitsugaya.

"I apologize for not making contact sooner." He offered. "Certain events occurred that demanded my attention."

"As in?" Hitsugaya interrupted.

Dumbledore paused, and then smiled. "I'm sure that you're aware of the alienation the Ministry of Magic is determined to inflict upon me. Apparently, many administrators, including the minister himself, are unhappy with my refusal to promote Professor Umbridge's status as High Inquisitor in Hogwarts. Therefore, my presence was required." He motioned to the cushioned chair in front of his desk and settled down on his own seat.

Hitsugaya took the invitation and sat down stiffly. It was true that the wizard newspaper Hermione daily received had featured negative pieces of news on the headmaster.

Before he could strain his memory on what exactly those articles had said, Dumbledore began speaking again.

"How is your search going, Mr. Toushirou?"

His mind instinctively flashed back to his encounter with the arrancar. The most that he gathered from that battle was that the arrancar were definitely not members of the Espada (on account of their reiatsu levels and poor fighting experience) and that they had somehow laid hold of wizard wands. Speaking of wands...

"Progress has been slow," Hitsugaya said slowly. Dumbledore stayed silent, his blue eyes peering at the 10th squad captain.

"Who's the main wand manufacturer here?"

Surprise only registering in his eyes, Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Ollivander. He owns a shop in Diagon Alley. Almost all the wands that the students have were purchased there, including yours."

"Almost? So he's not the only wand maker..."

Dumbledore nodded. "Correct. There is another wand maker in Bulgaria named Gregorovitch." An expression of interest suddenly clouded his face. "May I ask why you need this information?"

_Might as well tell him the jist of what happened if I want his cooperation..._ Hitsugaya thought to himself. He would have rather kept Dumbledore in the dark. Telling a living being the affairs of Soul Society was one of the points of the mission that the Commander had stressed _not_ to do.

Deciding that if the Commander knew that it was necessary for the success of his mission it would be okay; Hitsugaya quickly briefed Dumbledore on past events. He skimmed quickly through it all, skipping the battle entirely, before finally emphasizing the wands that the arrancar were using.

The headmaster looked disturbed. He had very little knowledge about the arrancar based on what Hitsugaya had told him and had only a few sketchy ideas about the shinigami society in general. He was uncomfortable with the idea of another wand-wielding mysterious enemy to deal with.

"What will you do with the information I have given you?" The headmaster asked.

Hitsugaya paused. "I'll put it to use." He replied curtly. "Also, I request a temporary absence from Hogwarts."

"That can be arranged depending on how long you'll be out." Dumbledore smoothly replied.

"About a week or so."

"Reason for absence?"

Hitsugaya looked up, irritated, and saw Dumbledore's amused expression. _He's wasting my time._

**You're wasting your own time if you don't comply. **Hyouinmaru commented. Nevertheless, his voice was filled with annoyance at the creature that was annoying his master so.

"To attend my sister's funeral."

At this, Hitsugaya detected something strange in Dumbledore's expression. However, it was gone before he could fully register it. Was it his imagination that Dumbledore's jaw tightened and the look in his periwinkle eyes was pained?

"I'll alert your teachers." Dumbledore said jovially, an apparent contrast.

Wondering if he had imagined it, Hitsugaya nodded his thanks.

"You'll need a guide, I assume?"

"Actually, all I need is directions to Diagon Alley. The guide will just get in my way."

"I'll arrange a portkey for you then."

Hitsugaya blinked in confusion. Before he could ask what in the world a _portkey_ was, Dumbledore stood up.

"Come in, Professor Umbridge."

The door opened with a brisk swing, revealing the short, stumpy witch standing behind it. "I wasn't aware that you had returned, Dumbledore." Umbridge started with a simpering twist. She stopped in mid-sentence, large toad-like eyes gazing at Hitsugaya with surprise.

"You should prepare for your journey, Mr. Toushirou." Dumbledore went on, unfazed by Umbridge's interruption. "I'll see you back in my office when you're ready."

Taking this as his cue, Hitsugaya rose from the chair and made his way to the door. He pointedly averted his eyes from Umbridge's scrutinizing stare and left the office quickly.

The door closed behind him and Hitsugaya wasted no time lingering in front of the office. He took the stone steps two at a time, ignored the gargoyle, and set out for the Gryffindor Common Room.

**We're leaving?** Hyouinmaru's low bass rumbled.

Hitsugaya couldn't help feeling enthusiastic. After all, he was finally leaving the grim, boring atmosphere of the Hogwarts castle and getting down to some real business. He felt a little guilty on not being there to receive news of Harry's Defense Against the Dark Arts class, but the relief on not having to play babysitter and not having to socialize with children centuries younger than him far outweighed the cons.

Which was why Hitsugaya replied in an exultant voice.

_Hell yes._

--

_Hmm… How un-Hitsugayaish. Well, he is finally getting out of Hogwarts that should be a cause of celebration. Which means, this plot is actually going somewhere! I'm relieved that I've made enough progress to finally get him out of the castle and do some real work. (Don't worry, he'll be returning soon enough). Kudos to the real Harry Potter fanatics that recognized the reason for Dumbledore's pain. Oh yes. Harry and Co. are finally developing their own reiatsu levels. Hitsugaya's secret has to be spilled on way or the other. :D  
_

_I won't ignore the whole book plotline though, but Hitsugaya needs some time on his own. I'm going to be on a forced-hiatus on account of my three week-long debate camp. I won't be able to make any progress for those three weeks. Sorry for not updating for so long! (And for creating my early tombstone). I'll see you guys more frequently this summer. Hopefully, FireyFlames._


	21. In Which Hitsugaya Discovers Diagon

**The Muggle with White Hair**

**NOTE**: _I am no way copying any other BLEACHHP fics out there. Have fun reading, eating, flaming, criticizing! Also, this story takes place during the Order of the Phoenix arc._

Chapter 21 - In Which Hitsugaya Discovers Diagon Alley

"This is a portkey?"

The disbelief bounced around the room.

"Despite what little your mind can comprehend, yes."

Hitsugaya looked up sharply at the smug little man in the painting.

"You're telling me that this...thing...will somehow magically get me to Ollivanders?"

Phineas Nigellus adopted a look of supreme boredom. "Considering that the rest of the castle functions on '_magically_' I suggest that you cast aside your doubts and get on with it. Dumbledore went through a lot of trouble to get you a portkey." He sniffed, clearly showing his conviction that Dumbledore was wasting his time to provide for a child.

Ignoring the obvious tone of arrogance, Hitsugaya went back to concentrating on the small gum wrapper gracing the headmaster's desk. Drooble's was printed on it in a large pink font.

"What am I supposed to do with it?" Hitsugaya asked after some hesitation.

"Eat it." Phineas replied nastily.

"Don't listen to that fool, he's tricking you!" The portrait to the left of Nigellus's cried out. Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow.

_I figured..._

"Just touch it and the portkey will take you there." A rather chubby woman stated as she lifted her cane for emphasis.

Out of the corner of his eye Hitsugaya could see Phineas scowl. Shrugging, (what else could he possibly do with a gum wrapper?), Hitsugaya secured the collar of his cloak more tightly before reaching out and grabbing the small piece of plastic.

His body surged forward, limbs forced to his side because of the curdling speed, eyes watering because of the blur of neon colors attacking his pupils, stomach recoiling in disgust, and then...

A brick wall.

Hitsugaya landed in a dusty heap, knocking a couple of garbage cans over with his arrival.

_What the hell was that?_

His head throbbed in pain (having been bashed against something huge and solid). He got to his feet slowly, one hand rubbing his forehead futilely.

Somewhere, a little man in a portrait was laughing at him.

Hitsugaya blinked and took in his surroundings. A large brick wall met his eyes. It reminded him of another brick wall that he had encountered before.

Wait, why was he even at a brick wall? Wasn't he supposed to be at some alley? Diagon Alley? Did Dumbledore forget to tell him something?

Hitsugaya doubted that Dumbledore would have withheld information, purposely or not. He glanced around once more, in case he had ignored something important. This time, he saw the door.

Deciding that he would accomplish nothing just standing around in this empty lot, Hitsugaya approached the door and entered into a dimly lit room. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he noticed the rather shabby atmosphere. Several tables and chairs were scattered around the room. Only a few people were occupying the lone chair or so.

At his arrival, a shriveled old man turned around slowly. He was holding a glass in one hand, the other shaking the rag thathe had been using to polish the glass with. A smile spread across his features.

"Hello! What can I get you?" He asked warmly as if people with shockingly white hair were a common occurrence in his bar.

"Actually, I have a question. Do you know how to get to Diagon Alley?" Hitsugaya asked, feeling only a little guilty for robbing the man of a potential customer.

The old man looked at him with an expression of amused confusion. "You just missed it boy, its back there." He replied.

Hitsugaya assumed that he had been looking at the man with disbelief written all over his face because the man quickly backpedaled.

"Ah, you must be new! Diagon Alley is right behind that brick wall. It's three up and two across." The bartender gestured towards the door Hitsugaya had just come in from.

"Three up...?" There were only so much vague instructions Hitsugaya could take.

"Tap the bricks three up and then two across." The old man clarified.

"I...see. Thank you." Brushing aside the man's 'no problem!', Hitsugaya turned and left the bar, back to where he started.

This time, Hitsugaya strode up to the wall, and tapped hesitantly on the corresponding bricks. The brick wriggled in response as if reluctant to comply to Hitsugaya's request then, in unison, the bricks in the center began to fold back to create a sort of archway.

There weren't a lot of things in the world (the real world specifically) that impressed Hitsugaya. The brick wall was an exception.

As Hitsugaya stepped through, a long swerving pathway greeted his eyes. Stores were lined up on either side of the street, cramped together and squished as if to make more space. In contrast to the stores, however, were the few people that were wandering up and down the alley. Hitsugaya guessed that it was because it was late into the school year and no one was interested in purchasing anything.

After this particular piece of information coming to a conclusion, Hitsugaya walked on, allowing he to be distracted only at the _Eyelids Owl Emporium_, before he spotted his destination.

Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.

_That is quite a history..._

Glancing around (no nosy passerbyers), Hitsugaya pulled open the door and entered the dimly illuminated room. A fine layer of dust was lying on the counter, the floor, and even the small stool teetering in the corner. The background consisted entirely of cardboard boxes precariously stacked into towers.

While Hitsugaya was wondering what exactly would happen if all those boxes fell to the floor, a man stepped out from the side of the room.

He had a wizened countenance, large bulbous eyes, and the tendency to walk without any noise coming from his footsteps. All in all, he gave out a rather creepy aura. It was nothing Hitsugaya couldn't handle.

"Good morning." The storekeeper, Hitsugaya assumed, greeted smoothly. He stepped further towards the counter and then frowned.

"You don't look familiar...are you a transfer student?" He blinked a couple of times.

Hitsugaya nodded. "Yes, I am. My name is Toushirou Hitsugaya and I came to ask you a few questions."

"Oh, you're a foreigner. Japanese, I presume?" Ollivander turned around and made his way towards a large stack of wands. He then began pulling various boxes from the shelves, piling them up in his arms.

"Since you're attending Hogwarts you'll definitely need a wand. I'm not sure what kind of magic they practice over there in Japan, ninjutsu or some kind of poppycock, but you'll need a wand here."

Depositing the boxes on the counter, Ollivander grabbed one and began shuffling eagerly towards Hitsugaya.

In response, he couldn't help edging back a little. "I'm not here to buy a wand. I just want to ask you something."

Ollivander frowned. "You can ask me something after you buy a wand." He said stubbornly.

"I _have_ a wand." Hitsugaya clarified, showing the said object to the store owner. He was careful not to point it straight at the man; apparently many wizards did not take wand pointing too kindly in the real world. If he was lucky, he would get this over with without having to utter spells and feel like an idiot.

If he was lucky.

"I don't recall seeing you in my shop before and yet you have one of my own manufactured wands." Ollivander said slowly, his tone clearly disbelieving the fact that he couldn't _remember_ one of his past customers.

Hitsugaya raised a single eyebrow. "Someone else bought this wand for me."

Ollivander smiled, and yet it was more of a smirk than a grin. "Beech, 15 inches, unicorn hair. If I remember correctly, Professor Dumbledore ordered this one." He frowned, displeasure crossing his face. "Does this mean that you haven't chosen your _own _wand?"

"I was preoccupied at that time. Putting that aside, I have a few-"

"Preoccupied?" Ollivander snapped out, looking mortally offended. "One should never dismiss choosing a wand as a trivial chore! A wand is a partner, if faced in a difficult and terrifying situation that promises mainly death, it will be the only factor in guaranteeing your safety!"

Slightly embarrassed on having this decrepit old man yell at him, Hitsugaya waited impatiently for Ollivander to stop his monologue. All he had were a few questions and all he wanted in exchange were some satisfying answers. He was tired of idling his time away in Hogwarts, caught in a standstill where one would be forced to do absolutely nothing...

Ollivander was nearing the end of his scolding lecture when Hitsugaya abruptly interrupted him.

"I apologize." He said, managing to inject the right amount of regret into his voice. "However, I don't have time to stand around and listen to you yell at me. Despite your main concerns right now, I have business here."

The wand maker paused, eyes slowly blinking. "Business?" He questioned.

Relieved that the man had finally stopped, Hitsugaya quickly barreled on, taking advantage of this momentary lull.

"Yes. I have some questions I need to ask you."

Ollivander's large bulbous eyes immediately narrowed, to Hitsugaya's surprise. His eyes lengthened into slits, creating a rather strange impression that something had flown into them therefore creating a rather puckered up version of a squint.

"If you're going to ask about my wand-making process..." Ollivander began, his tone implying heavily that the particular subject was dangerous ground. "Then I suggest you turn around and head straight out of the door." He motioned vigorously towards the front of the store and started slinking away from the counter.

"I wasn't, actually." Hitsugaya said quickly before Ollivander could disappear amid the mounds of boxes. "I want to know if you've had any recent sales in your store. Have you had any suspicious looking customers come in?"

The moment Ollivander turned around, Hitsugaya knew that he had just asked a stupid question. "Suspicious customers?" Ollivander echoed. "I've had more than my fair share of strangers in the past, but not any recently. Unless, young, giggling, Hogwarts students count as reasons to be alarmed." He adjusted his position so that he could stare fully at Hitsugaya. "My most recent sales were from last week. Who they were and what kind of wands they were buying, though, _that_ is privileged information."

Hitsugaya stiffened. He didn't take kindly to patronizing airs. "But you admit that there _were_ buyers, correct? Thanks for the information."

Ollivander frowned as he realized that he had just given information to the white-haired boy in front of him. Maybe he wasn't as conniving as he used to be.

"Anything else?" He snapped eager to get this arrogant brat out of his shop. Hitsugaya resisted releasing an exasperated sigh. It was evident that Ollivander would not give him details despite how much Hitsugaya prodded him.

"No thank you." Hitsugaya muttered back coolly, beginning to step away from the counter. "I apologize for wasting your time." He turned, not bothering to see Ollivander's reaction and left the shop.

----

Vivid streaks of light were pouring from the heavens as the sun rose to its highest position in the sky and beamed at the passerbyers. It was late afternoon as Hitsugaya walked down Diagon Alley, annoyance and frustration clouding his mood.

What did he expect from that visit? It wasn't like he would find the source of his problems just by taking a day off from Hogwarts. Why did he get so excited over one stupid lead?

Simple, he countered in his thoughts. Because it was the _only_ lead he had discovered. The espada search had been completely and utterly fruitless. The purpose of the arrancars he had killed a few days ago was just as vague. _Maybe I shouldn't have killed them all._ Hitsugaya shook his head. Heartless interrogation wasn't his thing. The white-haired boy slowed to a stop, eyes observing the horizon.

_I should get back to Hogwarts_. Feeling his temper begin to take another dip, Hitsugaya sighed silently to himself before shuffling towards the direction of the Leaky Cauldron.

He stopped.

Where exactly was the Leaky Cauldron again?

---

"This is annoying." Hitsugaya snarled in Japanese as he stomped down the long winding pathway of Diagon Alley. There was no one around to glance pointedly at his usage of a foreign language, and it was just as well, seeing as Hitsugaya's foul mood would've caused him toglare at them.

His eyes scanned for any type of sign or board that could lead him back to the pub, but the only signs he saw were the ones decorating the many shops on either side of him.

_I'm lost in some stupid wizard place._ Hitsugaya thought. _Could this stupid day get any worse?_

Suddenly, his eyes spotted a cracked piece of wood tacked messily on the wall. The wall was in between two long pathways, the right continued on as the main avenue, and the left seemed to dip down into some obscure fog.

Frowning, Hitsugaya looked at the sign. Unfortunately, half of it was missing, revealing the words "Alley" and a pointed finger to the left. After a few minutes of debating with himself, Hitsugaya moved arbitrarily towards the left.

_What could happen?_ He reasoned, eyes squinting to adjust to the thick fog. _Maybe it's a shortcut to the Leaky Cauldron_.

As he walked down the pathway however, Hitsugaya could keenly perceive the change in atmosphere. The heavy mist was oppressive around his form, and the murmur of conversation that he had heard in Diagon alley was absent. Hitsugaya's quick stride had slowed down to a cautious walk. He walked with hardly any sound beneath his shoes, a talent only life-dangering experience had bred.

That's when his instincts kicked themselves awake. Dark shapes rose from the ground with a startling suddenness. Loud cracking pops accompanied their presence. Hitsugaya stared bewilderingly for a split second at the scene before him before ducking behind a large barrel at the side of the road.

An unpleasant odor was coming from the barrel, it smelled strongly of something preserved. Hitsugaya avoided looking into the barrel and instead concentrated on the cluster of shapes in the middle of the path.

The cluster of shapes turned out to be a group of humans wearing long black cloaks. They were all wearing black hoods over their heads, effectively hiding their identities from Hitsugaya. The one nearest to the edge of the group turned around, scanning their surroundings. Hitsugaya huddled closer behind the barrel.

"Are we alone?" A dark, hoarse voice queried. Another, this time a soprano cackled. "Doesn't matter does it? Wecan just kill anyone who's uninvited."

"I thought we agreed _not_ to cause a ruckus." An aristocratic-sounding male muttered.

"Can we just take off our hoods? It's bloody annoying not knowing who you blokes are." Someone growled.

A quick assent rippled through the crowd as hoods were quickly pulled away.

There were a variety of different people. All of them were adults and had the distinct air of escaped convicts.

"So, this is where we're supposed to meet them?" The soprano, a woman with long straggly black hair and a face robbed of her once good looks. She pulled out a long wand, running the tip across her arm in a jerky, mechanical motion.

The aristocrat, with long silvery blonde hair, turned to her with an exasperated look. "Obviously, Bellatrix."

"Why are we meeting them again?" A tall, stocky male with a pale face asked.

Bellatrix rolled her eyes before impatiently flicking her wand towards the male. The male visibly flinched away, raising his own wand as if prepared to defend himself.

She laughed scornfully. "Because, Dolohov you idiot, the Dark lord has ordered it." The words Dark lord rolled of her tongue as if she was gently caressing them. "Do we need any other reason?"

Hitsugaya blinked. _Dark lord?_

Dolohov snarled, not appreciating the fact that he was called an idiot in front of everyone. "I'm aware of that. I just want to know why the Dark lord ordered-"

"Are you questioning him?" Bellatrix interrupted, her eyes showing the manic glint of a woman whose self-control had vanished years ago.

A hunched male growled in amusement over the proceedings. "You better back down Dolohov. Lestrange could kill you easily." He said nastily.

Dolohov threw him a look. "Quiet Greyback. I don't want to hear it from a man that couldn't ascend to our ranks."

Greyback smirked, but it was apparent that he was angry, before slowly advancing towards Dolohov. "I wouldn't mind a bite to eat before we meet these so-called _people_..." He trailed off.

"Stop, both of you. The Dark lord will not be pleased to hear that we disgraced his great name in front of these people." The blonde-haired man sounded irate.

"Of course, Malfoy. Anything you say." Lestrange groveled exaggeratedly.

The group morphed into a tense silence.

Hitsugaya did not move from his position behind the barrel. He had a strong feeling that showing his presence to these people would invite trouble especially since their very manner of speaking seemed to show their brutish qualities. _I wonder who they are._ The captain could not recognize any of the names they said. That is, except one. The man with the arrogant facade, the one they called Malfoy, not only looked familiar but had a familiar sounding name. Hitsugaya frowned in puzzlement. Where had he heard the name before?

His thoughts were interrupted by a strange sound. The sound was much like a rip in fabric except it was much louder and sharper than any rip could sound like.

It was a sound that Hitsugaya recognized.

As if to confirm his suspicions, the shinigami captain peered over the barrel when a large wave of reiatsu seemed to flood over him. At the same time, a figure, dressed in a white uniform, stepped out of the dimensional rip.

The group of individuals stared gaping, as the figure descending slowly down to the cobblestoned pathway.

_Arrancar?!_ Hitsugaya thought in shocked tones. _What is an arrancar doing here?_

The arrancar was male, this fact apparent by his long pointed beard and bulky build. He was clad in only white pants, the absence of a shirt showing his stomach muscles. A long sword dangled from his hip. A large white mask obscured his face, only leaving his lower jaw open to reveal sharp canines. Dark blue eyes looked around at his surroundings before concentrating at the shocked group of humans before him.

The others quickly recovered from their surprise and confusion, slowly backing away from the figure.

"What in the bloody hell is that?" Dolohov hissed none too quietly, staring at the grotesque mask. Both Greyback and Bellatrix did not reply, eyes staring at the strange person that had just stepped out of the _sky_. Out of a _rip_, no less.

Malfoy had gone into a rigid state, fingers clenching his wand. "Who are you?" He demanded, tensing for a confrontation.

Hitsugaya could only stare at the events happening before him. An arrancar had suddenly appeared before a group of wizards, was this somehow connected to the three arrancar he had battled before? The fact that the arrancar hadn't feasted on their souls or attacked Hitsugaya himself yet meant that he wasn't here for a battle. _What then? I doubt that he's here for a friendly meeting!_

The arrancar regarded the stuttering wizards coolly for a moment. The corners of his mouth curled in visible disdain.

"My name is Flavio Arroyo Ramirez. I am a loyal retainer to Aizen-sama, ruler of Hueco Mundo."

Here he paused, eyes boring into Malfoy's as Hitsugaya watched, stunned from behind the barrel.

"I am here to forge the alliance between Aizen-sama and your Dark lord."

---

_Oh shitake mushrooms. This took way too long for me to write and update. To be honest, I've been losing interest in Bleach. The movie starring Hitsugaya did nothing to revive my interest, seeing as it had a plot staler than month-old breath. It was hard, incredibly hard, to continue writing. But, I will definitely keep on writing, as tribute to all the readers and reviewers that have patiently waited for my update. I'm really sorry for how long this chapter took. It's just that many things have happened to divert my attention from fan fiction and this story. I wonder if that's a good excuse. FireyFlames_.


	22. Hitsugaya Ruminates

**The Muggle with White Hair**

**NOTE**: _I am no way copying any other BLEACHHP fics out there. Have fun reading, eating, flaming, criticizing! Also, this story takes place during the Order of the Phoenix arc._

Chapter 22 Hitsugaya Ruminates

Hitsugaya, for one freezing split second, was sure that he had heard incorrectly. Of all the things the arrancar could throw at him and the group of scared wizards...ceros aside, but really, a gesture of peace? His light green eyes, while glowing weirdly in the dark, narrowed into slits.

Apparently, the wizards were thinking along the same lines as Hitsugaya because they were pulling out their wands from their robes, prepared to immediately attack the stranger before them.

Bellatrix was the first to open her mouth and scream out a spell.

"Cruciatus!"

A second later the arrancar was gripping her throat with his hand. "That wasn't wise of you." He murmured as a small pinpoint of light began forming at the base of her throat. The light began to amass into an orb of pulsating glow, vibrating as it hovered in place. The arrancar looked thoughtful, gazing first into the frightened and angry eyes of Bellatrix and then back at the veins standing prominently in her throat.

The cero slowly dissipated and Flavio released Bellatrix, dropping her like a stone in front of her ashen comrades.

"I suggest that you think twice before attacking me, humans." Flavio said, his English heavily accented. "As demonstrated, I could kill you all easily with little to no effort on my part."

Bellatrix had pulled herself up quickly; face flushing in embarrassment and frustration. "Bloody piece of-" Whatever piece Bellatrix was determined to call Flavio was quickly cut off by Lucius.

"Quiet Lestrange." He snapped, voice quivering between fear and a latent curiosity. His dark eyes turned towards Flavio, mouth pulling itself into a grim line as Bellatrix stepped backwards, flanked by Dolohov and Greyback.

Hitsugaya watched from his hiding place. It would be convenient if the wizards and the arrancar killed each other, but then again, seeing how easily the arrancar beat down one of their fiercest members...there was obviously a large power gap between them.

_More importantly, why would Aizen want to ally himself with humans? I thought he was mainly concerned with the shinigami realm._

"What does your master want?" Lucius asked, immediately cutting to the chase. He put up one gloved hand. "Actually, let me rephrase that. What does your so-called master possibly think he possesses that will benefit the Dark lord in his endeavor? The Dark lord does not cut deals with random riffraff."

The holes of his bone-white mask revealed dark pupils that narrowed in warning. Flavio's English did not extend to the flowery and elaborate words of the language, but even an idiot could have interpreted the snobbery in Lucius's tone. "The fact that Aizen-sama is even aware of the existence of your...Dark _lord_...is extraordinary. Most humans with their stupidity do not concern us."

Greyback snarled. Flavio sneered in reply, obviously unimpressed at Greyback's effort to sound threatening.

He continued. "Aizen-sama has known about the reputation of your master for quite a while. Now that he is trying to return, Aizen-sama feels that providing support for him would be interesting to see. He does not care about humans. Rather, he is amused by them."

Lucius raised an elegant eyebrow. "What you're trying to say is that...Aizen-whatever, wants to help the Dark lord return to power purely because he is interested in the outcome? What is he, some condescending god observing humanity?"

Dolohov cut in with his own remark. "If you ask me, I don't think there's anything for this freak to offer for the Dark lord. You can just get back into your hole and leave us, _humans_, the hell alone."

Hitsugaya expected Flavio to react negatively, perhaps blasting the wizards to kingdom come. Instead, the arrancar laughed as if what the wizards had said was extremely funny and not insulting at all. Hitsugaya wondered if all arrancars possessed similar senses of humor.

"I would think that if you knew what kind of 'offer' Aizen-sama has for your Dark lord, then you wouldn't spurn him so readily." Flavio straightened up. "Aizen-sama can grant the Dark lord his body back."

There was an immediate reaction. Dolohov and Lucius scoffed as if they couldn't believe their ears while Greyback chuckled nastily. Bellatrix was the only one that seemed to be listening intently, a hollow sort of hunger glinting in her eyes.

"As if we're supposed to believe that! I doubt that whatever this Aizen has, the Dark lord has not thought of already! Go back to your master, dog. We don't need the help of anyone cowardly enough to beg at the Dark lord's feet."

This comment seemed to strike a nerve in Flavio, his strange sense of humor disappearing as quickly as it came. The arrancar placed one hand on the long katana at his side, his bone white mask not fully hiding the bloodlust that arose as soon as Lucius finished that statement.

"Shut up Malfoy." Bellatrix snarled, taking pleasure in shutting Lucius down in a similar fashion that he had done earlier. "Since when did you make decisions for the Dark lord in his place? I think this insubordination has gone long enough. The Dark lord will be very interested in hearing that you have been assuming his thoughts." Lucius blanched, the normally pale skin fading to a blotchy white at her threat. Bellatrix ignored Lucius's angry stutter to address Flavio.

"How exactly can your master give our Dark lord a body? And what does he want in return?"

Hitsugaya watched as Flavio calmed down instantaneously and turn back to Bellatrix, his hands leaving the hilt of his katana.

"Aizen-sama can give him a body without human limitations. He can make him all powerful, far stronger than the average mortal."

The wizards seemed to be in awe, still suspicious, but listening closely this time. They were obviously trying to comprehend how in the world Aizen would give the Dark lord a body, their knit eyebrows and frowns as hints.

Hitsugaya wasn't going through the same difficult thought process as the wizards. As soon as Flavio had mentioned a body beyond the average human, Hitsugaya's thoughts flashed to the assembly that Yamamoto had quickly called after Aizen defected. The commander general mentioned that not only had Aizen vanished and was rendered unable for any of the shinigami to pursue him, but he had also taken something, an artifact of incredible importance created by Urahara Kisuke. The hougyoku.

_No way._

"How?" Lucius demanded. His comrades paused to direct their attentions back to Flavio, eager to hear his answer.

Flavio let his eyes sweep over each of the wizards, once again his distaste and annoyance evident on his face. "That's no business of yours, mortals." He began, his lofty superior tone becoming more pronounced. "Aizen-sama wishes that this Dark lord understand what he has to offer him. If he is interested, then he can come personally to Aizen-sama, himself." He pulled out a small white object from his lower left pocket and tossed it casually down to Lucius.

Bellatrix snatched it from the air before it could land in Lucius's hands and inspected it carefully.

Hitsugaya couldn't see what it was from his viewpoint, but he could clearly see the look of disbelief on Lestrange's face as she turned the object round and round in her hand. His eyes swerved back to observe the arrancar who was taking a few steps back while rising back into the air.

"An egg?" Bellatrix shrieked, almost about to throw it back at Flavio's face before thinking better of it. After all, Flavio had almost strangled her.

The air behind Flavio began to ripple and convulse, as if it was having a seizure, then ripped open, revealing a long slit of blackness where several stars had been. Flavio stepped inside the black space, dismissing the wizards' wide stupefied faces. He turned back.

"Tell your master to crush it once he wants to talk with Aizen-sama." Both his feet were inside the deep impenetrable blackness as he said his parting shot. "That is, if he's smart enough to recognize the offer."

The slit sewed itself closed seamlessly, obscuring the back of Flavio's bone white outfit with a pattern of stars.

As soon as the dimension closed, Bellatrix spat at the place where Flavio had recently occupied. "Snotty little prick." She snarled, clutching the egg.

Both Dolohov and Greyback were looking at the egg dubiously, wondering how exactly Voldemort would react when presented with a dairy product. In fact, how would they explain it to the Dark lord? The whole meeting with the stranger sounded absolutely nuts. Lucius was thinking along the same lines, his panic reflected in his eyes. Bellatrix ignored her companions, placing the white egg carefully in the pocket of her robes.

"Let's go." And with a swish of her cloak, Bellatrix turned on spot and vanished with a loud crack. Dolohov and Greyback hurriedly apparated after, leaving Lucius alone on the cobblestones. He gave a quick cursory look around, causing Hitsugaya to duck quickly behind the barrel.

As soon as the last crack assailed his ears, Hitsugaya leaped from his hiding place. There was no lingering reiatsu from the arrancar, assuring Hitsugaya that there were no more enemies around. He systematically looked around, taking note of any strange disturbances while his mind whirled with action.

The amount of information he had collected from the meeting between the wizards and the arrancar shocked him substantially. The mission that he had thought was a complete flop turned out to be incredibly vital.

_Forget Ollivander, this new information is way more important. Why in all of Soul Society would Aizen want to help out a human?_

Hitsugaya thought back to his meeting with Dumbledore.

_"...Voldemort is an extremely dangerous wizard involved in the Dark Arts, a killer and a murderer."_

_Voldemort isn't any human. He's feared throughout the wizard world. I mean, people refuse to call him by his name for goodness sakes. At least the Gotei 13 haven't been reduced to calling Aizen The-Betrayer-Whose-Fucking-Scary._

_Okay, assuming that Voldemort has enough importance to pique Aizen's interest, he has therefore caused Aizen to pay attention to the mortal world. The only reason why Aizen would pay attention to the mortal world is because of the souls he needs and the Juureichi plot to make the Royal Key. How is Voldemort related to Aizen's plan then? What does Voldemort have that could benefit Aizen?_

_"Aizen-sama can give him a body without human limitations. He can make him all powerful, far stronger than the average mortal."_

_And making Voldemort more powerful will help him?_

_Wait, what if Aizen isn't necessarily looking for Voldemort's return as a stronger and more threatening being? What if all he wants is Voldemort's help in return? Aizen could care less about what happens in the mortal world, so he shouldn't be interested in Voldemort's evil crusade against humanity._

_He's more interested in what Voldemort can offer him instead._

"Shit." Hitsugaya said out loud, pressing one hand to his temple. "So what can Voldemort offer Aizen?"

_Wands?_

_No. It's already evident that the arrancars can get wands for themselves without the help of Voldemort._ Hitsugaya thought, thinking back to the arrancar that used a wand against him. _That means it's something way bigger and more important._

_Magic?_

_Aizen doesn't need magic to wipe out the Gotei 13. He has his vaste lords._

_A hostage?_

_Where did that come from? _Hitsugaya wondered.

**It makes sense. **Hyouinmaru suddenly said, startling Hitsugaya.

_It does?_

A sudden memory of the red-haired female arrancar, struggling at the grip Hitsugaya had around her braid, flashed through his mind.

_"Aizen...lie....Ha-lee..."_

_Harry._

_Harry Potter._

"It can't be." Hitsugaya snapped frustrated, beginning to stalk away from the arrancar and wizard's meeting place. "That makes no more sense than Aizen wanting wands."

**Then why were those arrancar there at Hogwarts? They had a mission of some kind, besides trying to kill you. That arrancar specifically said that Aizen had mentioned something about Harry.**

_But there's nothing important about Harry whatsoever! He's just an awkward teenager who apparently made Voldemort lose his powers and mortal body-_

"Wait a minute."

_Not only did Harry make Voldemort lose his _mortal_ body, but according to Ron and Hermione, he kept on opposing him. All in all, if I was Voldemort. I would be more than pissed at Potter._

_But if Aizen wanted to kidnap Potter, what would the kid be of any use to Aizen, other than to Voldemort?_

_To Voldemort...Aizen wanted to kidnap Potter because he was of use to Voldemort, not Aizen._

"That confirms that Aizen sincerely wants to form some sort of deal with Voldemort. But he failed to kidnap Potter, so he had to have some sort of alternative. An alternative...which is giving Voldemort a body."

_But that just leaves me two things that I can be sure about. Aizen wants to make a deal with Voldemort. An important one which means...I'm back to square one._

Letting a long string of Japanese provocation leave his mouth, Hitsugaya stopped walking and jammed his hands into his pockets.

"Ah, hello!"

Looking up, Hitsugaya watched as the shriveled old man from before that had helped him enter Diagon's Alley stepped towards him cheerfully. The bartender was holding up his brightly lit wand, casting shadows on the cobblestones.

"I'm glad to see that you didn't get lost." He said jovially, stepping forward and extending a hand towards Hitsugaya. "Dumbledore sent me a message that you're to be staying at the Leaky Cauldron for the night. He said that you'd be staying here for about a week, which means that you're welcome to stay at the Leaky Cauldron." He quickly ushered Hitsugaya along, steering him back to the plain brick wall that he had encountered earlier in the morning.

"Ah, thank you." Hitsugaya said distractedly as he was shoved through the entrance in the wall. The old man smiled and immediately began to question Hitsugaya on his visit to Diagon Alley.

"So how was it? Did Diagon Alley impress you?"

Hitsugaya opened his mouth and paused. He didn't want to say that it could've been better. That would be something along the lines of insulting a cherished landmark. He fumbled visibly for something to say, but was interrupted by the bartender.

"Ah, I guess not. Not a lot of hustle and bustle in the alley right now, since it's during the school year at Hogwarts. Did you go into any of the shops?"

Guiltily, Hitsugaya remembered ignoring many of the shop fronts as he traveled down the alley. "Err, I visited Ollivanders. It was very-"

"Ollivander eh? He's a gentleman, but can be a little creepy to young students like you. Which reminds me; I never got your name!"

"It's Hitsugaya Toushirou." Judging by the blank look Hitsugaya received, his name would probably experience further mutilations.

"Toushirou!" The man, much to Hitsugaya's surprise, replied in flawless Japanese. "I'm Tom. The bartender and owner of the Leaky Cauldron. It's been a while since I met a Japanese person. The last one I met tried to sell me ashwinder eggs disguised as chicken eggs. Almost burned down the whole pub!"

"Oh." Hitsugaya responded lamely, not knowing what exactly to say. A part of him was grateful to know that Tom had enough knowledge of the language to say his name correctly (as opposed to Hetsugellia), while the other was becoming progressively more confused with the man's continuing drivel.

The pair had entered the pub, which was now occupied by more patrons. They all looked steadily seedier than their afternoon counterparts, some clutching large mugs of beer. Hitsugaya couldn't help but be eerily fascinated as the person nearest to the counter revealed an extraneous third arm from inside of his or her robes.

Tom brought Hitsugaya out of his stare by dangling a small golden key over his white locks.

Was he mocking him? Hitsugaya bristled once; he would not _leap_ up to grab the key. Such actions were not completed by the captains of the Gotei 13. His murderous thinking was cut short as Tom handed the key to him and smiled kindly.

"Your room's number 11, upstairs. If you're hungry come back down to get a bite to eat."

Hitsugaya nodded as he turned towards the large staircase. "Thank you."

Tom let out a wide grin. "It's a famous room. Harry Potter once stayed there! Then again, you probably go to school with Harry don't you?"

Blinking, Hitsugaya gave a tentative nod and retreated up the stairs. He appreciated Tom's kindness, but was feeling a little overwhelmed. The stairs spilled out into a long hallway where Hitsugaya began walking down. Each of the many doors lining the hallway had brass numbers hanging at the front of the door.

After seeing the number 12 on the door to his right, Hitsugaya backpedaled until he was in front of room 11. Inserting the golden key, he gave it a twist and pushed open the door.

It reminded him of the Gryffindor Common room with its comfortable-looking furniture and large fireplace. The bed looked tempting enough for a juvenile cannonball, but Hitsugaya managed to control that particular childish urge. A large mirror hung opposite the fireplace, next to the bed where small wheezing sounds were issuing from it.

Hitsugaya decided to ignore the mirror for now and instead made his way to the bed. He lay down, tucking his arms beneath his head and directed his green eyes to the ceiling.

_Do I really need to stay here for an entire week?_ He pondered slowly. _I have enough information already._

_Okay. Let's go over it one more time. Where was I?_

_Oh right, determining what exactly Aizen wants from Voldemort. Voldemort can give him a variety of things. Maybe a magical artifact? Magical knowledge._

Hitsugaya briefly imagined facing an army of arrancar, each armed with a wand with a maniacally laughing Aizen at the front.

_They have their zanpaktous. Wands are almost frivolous compared to those. Not to mention the abilities of the arrancar themselves. There must be tons of arrancar in Hueco Mundo since Aizen defected. Enough to make a whole army. An army..._

_An army! Is that what Aizen's after? An army entirely comprised of wizards, separate from his own arrancars yet under his command?_

Lurching up violently, Hitsugaya adopted a wide eyed stance. "An army of wizards."

"An army of wizards along with an army of arrancar."

Pausing, Hitsugaya thought about the implications, mentally imagining a potential battle that could occur in Soul Society.

"I need to alert Yamamoto-sou-taichou immediately."

He pulled out his Soul Candy container and stopped.

"I don't have any substantial evidence to support that theory though." Hitsugaya muttered to himself, pocketing the container. "I need to start searching harder."

Almost regretfully, Hitsugaya gave a long sigh before concentrating back to the subject at hand.

"It's time to get back to Hogwarts."

* * *

_Shooba looba. Helllloooooo! It's FireyFlames/FieryFlames (whichever is easier for you) I've been dead for quite a while. I could always say it's not my fault, blame it on school, etc. Or I could say that I've been experiencing the Katsura Hoshino syndrome. But naw, it is my fault for not updating. But thankfully, I finally figured out a plot! It may seem like absolute drivel in the latter half of the chapter, but I promise. It does turn into something important for the storyline!! I sort of didn't want Hitsugaya to go back to Hogwarts so quickly, but what else could he do on his own?_


	23. Determination

**The Muggle with White Hair**

**NOTE**: I am no way copying any other BLEACHHP fics out there. Have fun reading, eating, flaming, criticizing!

Chapter 23 Determination

"Had a good night's sleep?"

Hitsugaya pried his forehead off the wooden counter to stare blearily at Tom's all too shiny grinning face. He responded with a groan, clutching his eyes as if the force of Tom's smile had seared his retinas. And hell, it sure felt like it.

He could vaguely hear Tom chuckling to himself before turning his attentions to the other customers in the pub. If Hitsugaya had gathered enough strength to answer Tom's question then he would have vehemently replied "_No._"

He had spent the whole of last night rolling in his sleep, trying desperately to figure out why Aizen would want an army of wizards. The only conclusions he could come up with was either Aizen wanted an extra force to surprise Soul Society or he was just plain crazy. It wasn't like anyone back home had figured Aizen out, how could he expect himself to crack the inner workings of the former fifth division captain?

**Calling yourself stupid isn't going to help you.**

Hitsugaya winced as the reprimand echoed in his mind, rattling his skull. He was bone tired and Hyouinmaru's snide remarks wasn't helping his headache.

"Looks like you need a pick-me-up." Tom suggested as Hitsugaya dropped his head in his arms. "You should go to Fortescue's...get some ice-cream."

_Ice cream._

_That's so...kiddish._

Hitsugaya was about to twitch and glare dangerously at the oblivious bartender, but his fatigue prevented his limbs from doing so. Maybe he did need ice cream. Or better yet, watermelon.

"Is that you Heksu?"

Lingering thoughts on watermelon disrupted by the sound of a overly perky voice, Hitsugaya turned slowly on his stool to see a woman with bright-pink hair drop into the seat next to him.

The shockingly pink color made Hitsugaya again close his eyes from the sheer brightness of it before forcing them open again. There was something distinctly familiar about the young woman next to him. He automatically remembered the pink hair, but the tiny nose and sharp cheekbones added an element of confusion.

"Nymphadora Tonks?" Hitsugaya mentally thanked his photographic memory for kicking in when Tonks smiled back at him, pleased that he had remembered her name.

"Just Tonks." She said, waving a greeting to Tom. "What are you doing out of Hogwarts, Heksu?" Tonks asked in a conversational tone.

Hitsugaya wondered if she was going to drag him back to school and carefully prepared his answer. "Dumbledore gave me permission to take a trip to Diagon Alley for a project back in Hogwarts." He said, meeting Tonk's inquisitive stare with his own calm one.

"Ergh, you've reminded me how much I hated homework back in Hogwarts." Tonks replied cheerfully, immediately accepting Hitsugaya's answer. "It's a great school, but I just don't like spending all my time writing essays. Speaking of essays, what exactly do you need to know for your project? Maybe I could help you?"

Tonks looked rather hopeful at this suggestion making Hitsugaya think twice before rejecting her. She wasn't trying to be an annoyance, more like a helpful annoyance. Weeks ago, Hitsugaya would have shot her down immediately, convinced that receiving help would just hinder his own progress. Maybe hanging out with the brats really had softened him up. He didn't know whether to be happy about it or just plain freaked out. He settled for freaked out.

"I need to do an analysis on the wizarding world in England compared to the one in Sou-Japan." Hitsugaya said, trying to make his assignment sound as boring as possible. "I just need to walk around Diagon Alley a bit, or maybe look at some landmarks."

Contrary to being bored, as Hitsugaya had expected, Tonks looked even more perky than ever. If that was even possible.

"Blimey, Heksu. I've always wanted to know more about Japan! It must've been fate we met here." Hitsugaya tried not to look horrified. "I'll help give you a tour!"

Tonks grabbed his arm and began pulling him off his stool and out of the pub. Tom must have seen the expression on Hitsugaya's face because he laughed heartily after them.

"Make sure to take him to Fortescue's!" He called. "I reckon that Florean can use a bit of business!"

"Will do!" Tonks replied cheerfully, still dragging Hitsugaya into the courtyard.

**I presume that we're not returning to Hogwarts then?**

Hitsugaya groaned.

----

Hitsugaya watched as an enormous purple toad hopped slowly towards him. He was hypnotized by it's dark violet skin and it's yellow bulbous eyes. There were never toads (or frogs for the matter) this big back in Soul Society. In fact, the last time Hitsugaya had seen a toad was when Yachiru had slipped one in Kuchiki-taichou's desk. Hanatarou had been devastated to find out that his pet had been slashed to a million pieces with Senbonzakura.

The toad, as if somehow in knowledge of his comrade's grisly death, croaked a reprimand at Hitsugaya before hopping away.

"Hey, Heksu, look at this!"

Suddenly, the toad's disappearing image was immediately obscured by a huge fluffball. The fluff turned out to belong to a fat white cat who looked furious on having been picked up and waved around in an undignified manner.

Tonks shoved the cat into Hitsugaya's arms, almost causing him to fall over from it's massive girth. "Look, it likes you!"

The cat turned face-to-face with Hitsugaya's wide green eyes and slowly revealed a sharp pair of incisors. "Right..." Hitsugaya replied, deciding that if the cat were to bite him then he would throw it out the window. There was no way he would willfully experience the claws of a cat digging into his legs once again.

"You know, for some reason, this cat reminds me of you. You guys would definitely get along." Tonks said, patting the cat on the head.

Both the cat and Hitsugaya stared disbelievingly back at her.

**It looks like a giant, overgrown rat.** Hyouinmaru growled silently, feeling rather territorial all of a sudden.

"Maybe." Hitsugaya said slowly, dropping the cat back onto the floor where it sauntered arrogantly away to join its brown, inferior cousins. "I'm not really a cat person."

Tonks blinked and looked around. The Magical Menagerie was crawling with cats of every size, shape, color, and bossy temperament. "I guess we should get going then."

Hitsugaya nodded, mentally thankful, and followed the young witch out of the store. They had spent the whole morning and early afternoon browsing in the many shops of Diagon Alley. First Tonks had dragged him to Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor where she had purchased both of them ice creams. While Hitsugaya mulled over the fact on how juvenile it seemed, Tonks laughingly mentioned that Hitsugaya looked like her little brother. Or at least a elementary kid. Hitsugaya controlled the urge to dump his cone on her shoes.

After having grudgingly finished his ice cream (it _was _extremely good), Hitsugaya followed Tonks into Flourish and Blotts, amazed by the many different books. Some floated, others talked, and one had tried to bash him in the face. It was due to his gigai's quick reflexes that Hitsugaya ducked. He suspected that Tonks was secretly laughing at him as he fled from his aggressive pursuer around the bookshelves.

To make up for it, Tonks took him to Quality Quidditch Supplies, convinced that since Hitsugaya was a guy he would be a total Quidditch fan. Nothing could be farther from the truth. If he hadn't known any better, Hitsugaya would have been convinced that Quality Quidditch Supplies was a cleaning supplies shop.

Gambol and Japes turned out to be a smidgen more interesting to the tenth squad captain. The fake wands were interesting (Hitsugaya considered sending these to the Espada and imagined Tousen's expression as his wand turned into a rubber chicken), but it was the fireworks that really grabbed his attention. Hitsugaya remembered watching fireworks from his office window during the festivals in Soul Society. He also remembered being forcefully abducted by a drunk Matsumoto who brought him to the Gotei 13 party, much to his chagrin. Otherwise, Hitsugaya deemed that the joke items were childish, but nevertheless he made sure to remember them in case Fred and George slipped a few into his robes.

"Well enough shopping!" Tonks said. "Let's go see Gringotts!"

"Grin-what?" Hitsugaya asked, slightly distracted by the evil eye the white cat in the window was flashing him.

"The wizard bank." At Hitsugaya's surprised expression, Tonks laughed. "It has the best security after Hogwarts of course. It's the most reinforced bank here in the wizarding world. Manned by goblins."

Hitsugaya looked nonplussed. He was pretty sure that he had heard the term goblins somewhere before but...

"You'll see." She replied in a secretive manner.

They walked down the relatively empty alleyway, Tonks in front whistling an unfamiliar tune with Hitsugaya behind her looking around at the other establishments. He bumped into Tonks as she jerked to a stop. Rubbing his nose, Hitsugaya blinked as Tonks peered at her reflection in the window of Ollivanders. He was confused, he wouldn't have pegged Tonks as the vain type at all, so why was she staring so intently at herself in the shop window? Maybe, she was looking at something.

He glanced inside the shop only to see Ollivander's large luminous eyes in the darkness. Hitsugaya almost jumped. _Whoa._

"I wonder if blue will look better on me."

Hitsugaya waited, having long since learned that interrupting women during their primping almost always ended up with him being hurt one way or the other (Matsumoto could attest to this). He watched as Tonks looked thoughtfully at herself while knitting her brow.

The bright pink slowly darkened to an ocean blue, the strands of her hair lengthening until it brushed her shoulders.

Tonks rearranged a few hair strands that were scattered across her forehead and once again looked critically at herself in the shop window. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and laughed, shaking Hitsugaya out of his wide-eyed stupor.

"I've always wanted to do that." She said, punctuating it with another exaggerated hair flip.

"How..._did_ you do that?" Hitsugaya asked, managing to calm himself down. He had seen a lot of shocking things in his lifetime, seeing someone change their entire facial structure wasn't enough to induce jaw-dropping. Instead, he stared at her suspiciously. "Is it an illusion?" Hitsugaya didn't do well with illusions. They reminded him of a person he utterly despised.

Tonks was unfazed. Her hair growing a couple of more inches, she explained that she was a Metamorphmagus. Apparently, metamorphagi could change their appearance at will and were extremely rare even in the wizarding community. And no, she wasn't casting an illusion. There were plenty of spells to accomplish that, but none could physically alter appearance like metamorphagi could.

Hitsugaya was impressed despite himself. "Do you just change your appearance for fun or do you use it for other things?"

"It helped me pass my Auror test. An auror is a dark wizard catcher." She exclaimed proudly, noticing the fact that Hitsugaya was for once initiating a conversation. "Concealment and Disguise. Didn't do so well in Stealth, but my metamorphagus skills managed to help me scrape by." Her nose becane longer and slimmer as her cheekbones grew more pronounced.

"How come you're changing your appearance now?" It was a simple question that Tonks responded to with a blush of embarrassment.

"Gringotts doesn't exactly throw me a party when I come through the doors." She replied in a quick mumble of sorts, tweaking her nose. "I think it's because I once tripped over one of their large golden scales and knocked down all their rubies, thereby tripping up all the goblin accountants which eventually led to one accidentally shoving the bank manager into a falling mine cart. They couldn't find him for six weeks." Tonks paused at Hitsugaya's incredulous glance. "I'm clumsy." She quickly said.

_Apparently._

"Which is why I'm going to disguise myself for the time being."

Hitsugaya shrugged, it was no skin off his nose. Speaking of noses, he glanced back to Tonks who was changing the color of her pupils with an alarming swiftness that made him feel a little nauseous.

"There it is. Good ole Gringotts."

When he first heard the name Gringotts, Hitsugaya imagined some sort of a grimy wooden building complete with snarling guards and spiderwebs. The large white marbled building seemed to be mocking his ignorance. He walked up the carved stone steps with Tonks and stared at what he thought was a shriveled old man who watched them carefully. The guard did look a little bit on the elderly side, but that specific detail was overlooked on account of his long pointed nose, thin squinted eyes, and large ears.

_A goblin._

Tonks quickly ushered Hitsugaya through the large bronze doors in an attempt to escape the looks that the suspicious guard were throwing at them, relaxing once they entered the marble foyer.

The marble ran its course all the way to another set of doors, this time silver with a written passage of sorts engraved on its flanks. Two similar looking guards were standing at attention to either side, giving no more than a glance at Hitsugaya as he followed Tonks past them.

The silver doors opened up to a magnificent hall, its size reminding Hitsugaya of Seireitei as he looked around. There were goblins everywhere, outnumbering the tiny amount of humans that were standing in front of the many counters. They all looked the same almost, pointed nose, squinty eyes, the works.

Tonks guided him throughout the hall, pointing out the large golden scales that she had once overturned and the mine cart that stood unobtrusively near a rather tiny entrance way. She greeted a few goblins who in turn looked rather annoyed on having been interrupted with their calculations, Hitsugaya wondered at her energy for someone who would probably be jumped as soon as her identity was revealed.

"It's too bad we can't take the cart for a spin." Tonks said, a little wistfully.

Hitsugaya shook his head and turned to walk back down the hall. He was tired of walking around and around Diagon Alley without any real purpose or reason to. True, it was for his supposed 'project', but then again that had been a made up excuse.

What he really should be doing was trying to figure out Aizen's motives for allying himself with the dark wizards. Aizen wasn't the type to become buddy-buddy with anyone without having some underlying manipulation. _The bastard._

"Can I ask you a question?"

Tonks abruptly stopped singing and glanced back at Hitsugaya. "What is it Heksu? Is it about Gringotts? I'm afraid that I don't know much about the place, never really liked going there with all the goblins around, they sort of freak me out. Not only do they stare but-"

Hitsugaya cut in quickly before Tonks could unleash her tangent. "Can you tell me more about Voldemort?"

The smile on Tonks face faded so suddenly that Hitsugaya wondered if asking had been the best course of action to take.

"What do you need to know about him?" She asked slowly, not suspiciously, but rather curiously all the same.

"For the project." Hitsugaya said. "Japan has had its share of...malignant wizards also." _Which is true._

**Not really.**

Tonks relaxed for a tiny fraction, but her overall posture was still tense. "I'm guessing that you already know that You-Know-Who is an evil idiotic prat, eh? Well, I can't really say much, but I can suggest you to go to the library at Hogwarts. They have a lot of information on him."

_Well that was helpful. Why can't someone just give me an answer where I don't have to go back to Hogwarts?_

"Thanks," the captain of the tenth squad replied. "I just have this one question though. Did Voldemort try and raise his own...army when he was still around?"

"Raise his own army? He practically already had one when he was in power. There were a lot of wizards and witches that were interested in what he was offering. True, he did resort to bullying and intimidation, but most of his followers were absolutely crazy." She frowned. "Not to mention all the creatures that joined."

_Creatures...so all in all, Voldemort had an impressive amount of soldiers. Still doesn't tell me anything._

Tonks went back to whistling, changing her hair at least three times before depositing Hitsugaya at the front of the Leaky Cauldron. She gave him a hearty goodbye, promising to come visit him at Hogwarts (much to Hitsugaya's dismay) and apparated away.

Hitsugaya entered the pub, nodding at Tom's "How was it?", and eventually reached his room.

He was tempted to sleep, but managed to wrest himself away from the bed by glancing at his cellphone. There was service, but Hitsugaya didn't feel like calling up any one of his acquaintances back in Soul Society.

_I should make a report to Yamamoto-sou-taichou. It's been weeks since I last contacted a shinigami with any relevant information at all to my mission._

It took him a while to set up communications. All captains had some form of the technology on their person, whether it be butterfly or television. Conveniently, Hitsugaya possessed the television screen.

He swallowed a soul candy, freeing his soul from the constricting boundaries of his gigai and immediately dug into his shinigami robes for the object he was looking for. He pulled out something akin to a thick oozing slug, glancing down at it indifferently before jamming it straight next to the mirror.

The mirror squealed indignantly. "Don't let that thing touch my face!"

Hitsugaya ignored the mirror and released the slug. The 'thing' suckered itself to the wall and began to heave rapidly, the mouth on its tiny face opening and closing in order to squeeze in air.

It then regurgitated all over the wall, spreading vomit all over the pale white wallpaper. The mirror began to complain in quick high pitched tones of disgust as the vomit hardened into a clear black substance, creating the communications screen.

Hitsugaya silenced the mirror with a spell he had learned from one of his many books and turned his attentions back to the regurgitating slug. It finished vomiting up the hard black material eventually forming one solid layer across the wall.

The screen began to crackle, fizzing in an effort to contact with the realm beyond. Then-

"Hitsugaya-taichou?"

A tall man clad in the robes of a shinigami captain peered at him from the screen. He looked startlingly similar to Hitsugaya himself, what with his white hair several lengths longer, but with a rather gentle expression on his face.

"Ukitake-taichou. I need to speak to Yamamoto-sou-taichou."

Ukitake smiled in acknowledgement as the captain commander of Soul Society stepped into view. Yamamoto was still as stern and as elderly as ever with his long white pointed beard and large staff.

"Greetings, Hitsugaya-taichou. You haven't been sending in your regular reports ever since you got to that wizarding school."

_Typical of Yamamoto-sou-taichou not to beat around the bush._

"I apologize. It seems that electrical devices don't work in Hogwarts. The magic barriers around the school interfere with all signals."

Yamamoto humphed and cast a critical eye on Hitsugaya when Ukitake cut in with a grin.

"I heard that you've made some friends over there, Hitsugaya-taichou." He said, friendly as ever. He looked rather proud of him, like a father with his son's first interactions at the playground.

Hitsugaya maintained a blank expression in order to counter Yamamoto's raised eyes. As soon as he went back, he would sentence Matsumoto to paperwork duty for ten years. That should teach her not to spread ridiculous rumors around Soul Society. Did it look like he was enjoying himself when she came to visit?

"Your report Hitsugaya-taichou."

_Errr..right._ "There have been two arrancar confrontations on the outskirts of Hogwarts, outside the castle, but still on the land. All three have been eliminated, but the object of their mission has yet to be fully determined." He paused, hoping that Yamamoto wouldn't immediately embark on one of his many...many lectures. "However, I believe that they were sent to Hogwarts from Hueco Mundo to kidnap a certain student at the school."

"Kidnapping? It doesn't sound like Aizen..." Ukitake trailed off with a frown. Nobody knew exactly who Aizen was, kidnapping might be the way he got his kicks, who knew?

"Neither does seeking alliances." Hitsugaya replied and quickly revealed the meeting between the Death Eaters and the arrancar under Aizen's banner. Ukitake looked disturbed at the fact that Aizen wanted to ally himself with a dangerous murderer while Yamamoto assumed his stoic manner.

"Have you discovered his motive?" Yamamoto finally asked, eyes boring down at the tenth squad captain. Hitsugaya tried hard not to look frustrated or annoyed.

"Unfortunately, I still don't know exactly what Aizen's trying to do." He admitted grudgily as Ukitake made a small noise of surprise.

Yamamoto-sou-taichou unfortunately did not look impressed. "At least we know that Aizen is attempting contact with the wizards. While he's distracted with them, the Gotei 13 should work on increasing their powers. We need to prepare for the upcoming war." He tapped his staff on the floor and glared straight at Hitsugaya. "I think it's time you come back to Soul Society, Hitsugaya-taichou."

"What?" Hitsugaya exclaimed, caught off guard by Yamamoto's demand. _Going back already?_ "But sir, Aizen's motive is still undetermined..."

"Your mission is not an urgent priority anymore. You haven't met any members of the Espada here, correct?"

Hitsugaya nodded slowly, still surprised at Yamamoto's order.

"It's important that you come back to Soul Society. We need to be at our full strength." At this Ukitake nodded in agreement and both officers looked back at Hitsugaya through the screen.

"But sir, it's important to know what exactly Aizen wants with Voldemort. He might want to use the wizards against us in the war."

"Something that we will surely be prepared for. I doubt that even wizards with their magic can stand up to the full power of the Gotei 13." Yamamoto remarked. "Regardless, seeing as you have been unable to figure out what Aizen is exactly up to, it's time you come back. This is an order, Hitsugaya-taichou."

Hitsugaya internally winced, but stood his ground all the same. "Sir, I think that there's more to the surface here than Aizen trying to buddy himself with the wizards. After all, he's trying to involve the mortal realm and isn't it one of our duties to defend the realm from the hollows in Hueco Mundo?"

"It's true." said Ukitake thoughtfully. "It might be safer for the...wizards if Hitsugaya stays there for the time being."

Eyes flashing, Yamamoto leveled a cold glance in his direction and slowly turned towards Hitsugaya. He regarded him silently, brow knit with mental exertion.

"A week. That's all I'm going to give you Hitsugaya-taichou. Spend that time wisely and figure out what Aizen's up to. It should be something that the boy genius of Soul Society could achieve easily, am I wrong?"

Hitsugaya saluted him in response. He was long used to Yamamoto frequently referring to his incredibly quick ascent through the ranks of the Gotei 13. It was how the captain commander acknowledged him in a way, almost as if because Hitsugaya was a genius then he should have double the responsibility of any other captain in the squads.

Yamamoto nodded in approval as Ukitake waved cheerfully at Hitsugaya. Hitsugaya inclined his head in response and the screen immediately darkened.

The silence was sudden, casting Hitsugaya into a thoughtful mood. He exhaled the breath he was holding and turned to his waiting gigai.

"Looks like you have a big responsibility-pyon." The gigai remarked, glancing at him from beneath a shock of white hair. Hitsugaya threw him a look, ignoring the plain weirdness of speaking to yourself, and instead motioned the gigai to come forward.

As he entered his mortal shell he placed the soul candy carefully back into its container. _A week to find out what Aizen's up to. I hardly have any time._ Running a hand through his snow white hair in one smooth exasperated motion, he collapsed onto the bed and forced his eyes to stay open.

_Looks like I'll be spending another sleepless night tonight. Gosh, how much do I hate Aizen again?_

Hitsugaya turned his head towards the quickly evaporating screen on the wall, trying to fend off his thoughts for the time being in order to clear his mind. He was still as obsessed with Aizen as he was in the very beginning and wasn't any step closer to figuring him out. Sometimes late at night in his office, he would give up and ponder exactly why he was so bent on beating the crap out of the traitor.

Then he would remember Hinamori's prone body. The pool of blood. Hitsugaya squeezed his eyes shut as he felt another violent wave of anger swarm around him. He had never felt as much loathing towards an individual since Aizen, Ichimaru coming a close second. Hell, might as well put that fury to good use. Hitsugaya hadn't been named a prodigy for nothing.

_"Rumors have it that you're the embodiment of a heavenly guardian that's reincarnated every few centuries."_

_Well, whatever the rumors say, I know one thing for sure. I'm going to show Yamamoto the reason why I'm called child genius._

**Well, aren't you getting carried away with yourself?**

_Humph._

**First things first, what are you going to do?**

"I'm going back to Hogwarts." Hitsugaya said determinedly, this time with none of the dreading he had the night before. "And I'm going to need all the help I can get. Starting with the headmaster."

**Are you saying what I think you're saying? You're actually agreeing to bend your pride to ask for help?**

_Not exactly. But to an extent, yes. I figure it's time to stop looking down my nose at everyone. I know absolutely nothing about Voldemort, what's more convenient than asking the people who've had the most experience with him?_

**Hm. And exactly who are you going to ask for help?**

_Starting with Dumbledore._

_Then Harry._

* * *

_Now Hitsugaya is definitely going back. This time, he's back with a slightly different attitude. There'll be less sarcasm and more maturity from now on, (hope that satisfies the fans of Hitsugaya's awesomeness). This didn't take as long as the last chapter, thank goodness. It's probably because I know exactly what I'm going to do with this story. Hurrahs. I'm going to concentrate more on Hitsugaya's relationship with the Trio as well as more of Aizen's EVIL PLOT TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD (muahahahha). And maybe Voldemort. eh. no one cares about him. Speaking of Voldemort, who else loved young Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and the Half blood Prince? Okay, that was off-topic. Hope you enjoyed the newest chapter. FireyFlames._


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